Indictment Returned in 2010 Kennesaw Diamond Heist Case

A Cobb County grand jury has indicted a man who allegedly stole $1 million worth of jewelry from a Kennesaw business in 2010 and who was not tied to the crime until last year, the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday.

Osniel Labrada-Guillen was indicted on state racketeering charges on Thursday for his alleged burglary in Georgia, and faces additional charges from alleged burglaries in Florida, Indiana, and Texas, the DA’s Office said.

In order to convict a defendant of racketeering, a jury has to determine that the defendant committed at least two predicate or overt acts, one of which must have been committed in the county in which the charges are being brought, according to the DA’s Office.

On the evening of Jan. 13-14 2010, Guillen allegedly cut a hole in the roof of Diamonds R Forever on Wade Green Road in Kennesaw. He then allegedly entered the business, cut the phone line and alarm system, cut into the safe, and made off with the loot.

Police discovered some of the loot and a used Wendy’s bag inside a plastic bin in Kennesaw. Inside the Wendy’s bag, police found a plastic spoon which was swabbed for DNA evidence. Genetic material was discovered, but there were no matches in any law enforcement databases.

Two years later, another jewelry store in Indiana was burglarized. There, police recovered a ski mask used by the suspect and matched DNA inside the mask to the DNA recovered from Kennesaw. The suspect remained unidentified, however.

In March of 2014, Miami police arrested Guillen during a traffic stop. He posted bail and was released, but not before police obtained a sample of his DNA. Running his genetic information through a database, authorities were able to link him to the two unsolved burglaries in Kennesaw and Indiana and notified the GBI Crime Lab in September of 2014.

Guillen was arrested on Dec. 28 and has been held in the Cobb County jail without bond since then. A date for Guillen’s arraignment has yet to be set, the DA’s Office said.

Osniel Labrada-Guillen is presumed innocent of the charges levied against him until the state can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was responsible for the crimes named above.