Two more people have admitted their roles in the multi-million-dollar pharmaceutical heist described as Connecticut’s biggest ever four years ago from an Eli Lilly & Co. warehouse in Enfield, authorities say.
Yosmany Nunez, 42, of Southwest Ranches, Fla., and Alexander Marquez, 41, of Hialeah, Fla., each pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of transportation of stolen property in New Haven federal court, the Connecticut U.S. Attorney’s Office said Thursday.
Both men, who are Cuban citizens, were arrested last April. Nunez remains in custody; Marquez is free on $200,000 bond, authorities said. Their sentencing is set for February, at which time each faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.
Thieves broke into the warehouse the night of March 13, 2010, by scaling an exterior wall and cutting a hole in the roof, The Associated Press previously reported . They used ropes to lower themselves to the floor and disabled alarms before using a forklift to load pallets of drugs into a getaway vehicle.
The stolen drugs, which included antidepressants, antipsychotics and a chemotherapy drug used to treat lung cancer, were later recovered from a storage facility in Florida, The AP reported. Forty pallets filled with thousands of boxes of Zyprexa, Cymbalta, Prozac, Gemzar and other medicines, were valued between $50 and $100 million.
Investigators said Marquez drove the tractor-trailer laden with stolen drugs to Florida, where he reunited with his co-conspirators.
Two others, brothers Amaury Villa and Amed Villa, already pleaded guilty to their involvement and await sentencing.
Nunez and Amaury Villa traveled from Miami to Enfield, to scout the site, prosecutors said. Amed Villa and another individual drove to Flushing, N.Y., to buy tools used in the theft.
