3 Facing Federal Charges In Manchester Apple Products Heist

MANCHESTER, CT — Federal authorities Monday said that three men have been charged in connection with the gunpoint heist of Apple products from a delivery truck in Manchester last spring.

David X. Sullivan, United States attorney for the District of Connecticut, and P.J. O’Brien, special agent in charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced Monday that Jose Miguel Mercado, 32; Jean Gonzalez Paulino, 31; and Daury Rdriguez Contreras, 22, each a citizen of the Dominican Republic residing in Lawrence, MA, have been charged with federal offenses related to their involvement in the gunpoint robbery of a delivery truck containing Apple products in Manchester.

According to case records, at approximately 7 a.m. on March 25, Mercado, Gonzalez, and Rodriguez committed a gunpoint robbery of a delivery truck driver after he stopped at a commuter lot in Manchester before a scheduled delivery of a shipment of Apple products to an Apple store in South Windsor.

Mercado, Gonzalez, and Rodriguez stole approximately $316,753 in Apple phones, tablets, and other accessories during the robbery, and approximately $1,000 in cash from the driver, according top case records. After the theft, Mercado, Gonzalez, and Rodriguez traveled to a location in Wethersfield, where they discarded clothing, a license plate, and other items into a dumpster, case records show.

They then traveled to the The Bronx in New York City, where they unloaded items stolen during the robbery and many of the stolen items were subsequently registered by New York residents and activated, prosecutors said. According to case records, a vehicle used in the robbery had been rented by Gonzalez in Massachusetts through Turo, a peer-to-peer car sharing platform. After the vehicle was returned on March 26, and being cleaned, the vehicle’s owners found a box containing an Apple charging cable that appeared to be new, according to case records.

Mercado, Gonzalez, and Rodriguez were arrested on federal criminal complaints on Aug. 21, 2025.

On Sept. 3, a federal grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment charging each defendant with conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act Robbery, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years; Hobbs Act Robbery, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years; carrying, using, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, an offense that carries a mandatory consecutive term of imprisonment of at least seven years; and interstate transportation of stolen property, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.

Mercado, Gonzalez, and Rodriguez, who are lawful permanent residents of the U.S., have been detained since their arrests. Mercado was to be arraigned Monday afternoon in Hartford federal court.

Gonzalez and Rodriguez were arraigned and entered not guilty pleas on Sept. 11.