4 Masked Gunmen Stole $390K In Jewelry From Bergen County Hotel Guests: Prosecutor

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — Four men armed with guns and cloaked in masks who robbed a group of North Jersey hotel guests of $390,000 in jewelry this summer have been arrested, authorities said Friday.

Prosecutors said five men waited in a car in the parking lot of a hotel on Route 4 for guests who were returning from a work event. One man stayed behind the wheel of the car, while four masked men robbed several people at gunpoint, victims told police.

Prosecutors said that Jarol Ledesma, 22, of Brooklyn, Javier Pena, 21, of the Bronx, Jose Peralta, 23, of the Bronx, Justin Martha, 24, of the Bronx, and Michael Mercedes Marte, 28, of Newark, were arrested in connection with the robbery, after an investigation.

Prosecutors said that at 4 a.m. on June 28, the Fort Lee Police Department responded to an armed robbery in the parking lot of a hotel on Route 4 East in Fort Lee.

The investigation determined that five people drove to the parking lot in a black Dodge Durango and "waited for the victims, all of whom had just returned to the hotel from a work event out of state."

Prosecutors said that the suspects had surveilled and followed the victims beforehand.

Once the victims arrived, four masked gunmen got out of the Durango and approached them with handguns and long guns.

The men stole more than $390,000 worth of jewelry from three of the victims, prosecutors said.

The men got into the Durango — which had been stolen from Brooklyn — and left, prosecutors said.

Already In Jail

By the time the five men were charged, two of them were already in jail on other states for different offenses. They will be extradited to New Jersey.

Their charges are:

• Martha was charged with three counts of first-degree armed robbery, weapons charges, and aggravated assault. He remains in custody in New York, awaiting extradition to New Jersey.
• Peralta was charged with three counts of first-degree armed robbery, weapons charges, and aggravated assault. He was already in police custody in Westchester County, N.Y. for an unrelated offense, but has been extradited to New Jersey.
• A SWAT team helped arrest Marte in Newark. He was charged with three counts of first-degree armed robbery, weapons charges, and aggravated assault. He's in the Bergen County Jail awaiting trial.
• Ledesma was already in jail in Massachusetts for an unrelated offense. He was charged with three counts of first-degree armed robbery, weapons charges, and aggravated assault. He's in Massachusetts awaiting extradition to New Jersey.
• Pena was charged with three counts of first-degree armed robbery, weapons charges, and aggravated assault. The FBI helped arrest Pena in the Bronx. He awaits extradition to New Jersey.