San Ramon Jewel Thief Suspects May Have Had Inside Help

SAN RAMON, CA - Five suspects received federal charges related to an armed robbery of Heller Jewelers at City Center Bishop Ranch in San Ramon in March. Prosecutors allege that at least 11 people were involved in the heist, which made off with approximately $1.1 million worth of jewelry. Prosecutors also believe the suspects may have received information regarding the investigation from a friend in law enforcement.

Sunia Mafileo Faavesi, 30, Ryan Kentrell Montgomery, 35, Paul Christopher Tonga, 33, and Kyle Vehikite, 34, have been booked into Santa Rita Jail on no-bail federal holds, according to a criminal complaint from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

John Ioane Tupou, 30, has been charged, but remains at large. Investigators believe that a total of eleven suspects participated in various aspects of the robbery, based on witness accounts, surveillance footage, and license plate reading technology.

If convicted, the suspects could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

The armed robbery took place on March 17, 2023 at approximately 2:45 p.m., according to the complaint. Seven suspects got out of a Jeep Grand Cherokee and an orange Dodge Charger and walked into Heller Jewelers wearing hooded sweatshirts, long pants, ski masks, and gloves. Four drivers stayed in the cars.

One suspect drew a handgun and pointed it at the security guard at the entrance, then grabbed the security guard away from the door and shoved him against the wall, according to the complaint. Another suspect pointed the gun at employees and the roughly ten customers inside the store (including children), demanding they get on the ground.

The other five suspects began smashing display cases with hammers and loading items into duffel bags. The incident took just under a minute, according to the affidavit.

A GPS tracking device located inside a Rolex watch helped investigators track down suspects located throughout the Bay Area, corroborated by the undercover officers, surveillance footage, and vehicle registrations. Tonga was observed by officers traveling in the same direction as the tracking device.

Investigators obtained warrants to access call data records of Tonga’s iPone, which showed him on conference calls with the other suspects in the days leading up to and following the robbery. Investigators also obtained a warrant to search Tonga’s iCloud data, which included a March 26 photo of John Ioane Tupou fanning a large amount of cash in front of his face.

“Based on my training and experience, I know individuals often use casinos to clean illicit proceeds,” the investigator wrote in the affidavit. “This is done by exchanging illicit proceeds through the casino’s cage for playing chips. After playing a few games (gambling), the individuals will cash out the chips, having now obtained new currency provided by the casino. Consequently, I believe the below image indicates TONGA and TUPOU were attempting to clean the illicit proceeds obtained following the March 17, 2023, robbery.”

Investigators also obtained text screenshots from March 29 between Tonga and an unknown source providing information from a law enforcement insider.

“She said the case in San Roman [sic] is sealed because they never got you yet.. I told her about the raid she said it’s all together w/ san Roman [sic] .. she said Feds gon work with the Cops since you have a warrant with the state… they gon book you thru state & when they get you that’s when federal will get you,” the person advised Tonga, among other pieces of information.

“Tell sis keep u informed I’m about to wiggle around to [text cut off],” Tonga wrote.

Call detail records and phone location information for Tonga’s cell phone showed that after the robbery, he traveled to Reno, Dallas, Oahu, and Salt Lake City, where he was located when the affidavit was written.

Investigators say they also have evidence that masked men in the Dodge Charger had cased the store a week before the robbery, and were briefly chased by San Ramon police.