Two men from the Detroit area have been sentenced to federal prison for their involvement in a theft at a jewelry store in Ellisville, Missouri. The incident involved the stealing of Rolex watches valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars.
U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey sentenced Kordaryl Cross, 35, to 57 months in prison on Monday. His accomplice, Dajuan Marcellus, 34, was sentenced earlier in October to 37 months. Both men are required to pay $344,300 in restitution to the jeweler.
The crime took place on January 10, 2023, when Cross purchased sledgehammers from a retailer in Missouri. The following day, Marcellus and Cross, along with at least two others, stole a Dodge Ram truck from Brentwood and drove it to Ellisville. There, Marcellus and another individual used sledgehammers to break glass cases containing the watches while Cross kept track of time. They later abandoned the stolen vehicle in a parking garage and transported the stolen watches to Illinois.
Both men pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property.
At the time of this crime, both Cross and Marcellus were on supervised release for separate robbery convictions in Michigan's Eastern District. In 2023, they were each sentenced to an additional 18 months for these prior offenses.
The investigation was conducted by the Ellisville Police Department with Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwendolyn Carroll handling prosecution duties.