Massachusetts, Rhode Island police bust six-year, $4 million jewel theft ring

MIDDLESEX COUNTY, Mass. — Massachusetts state police officials on Friday announced the arrests of four men named as part of a burglary ring in which they stole more than $4 million in jewelry over a six-year span.

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Jovan Lemon, 29, Paul Lemon, 30, Steven Berdugo, 28, and Paul Miller, 46, all of Rhode Island, were indicted earlier this month in connection with 43 burglaries and break-ins across 25 towns in Massachusetts between July 2018 and March 2024. According to authorities, the men are part of a ring with ties to a violent Providence-based gang.

The grand jury on April 18 handed down a total of 95 counts of unarmed burglary and breaking and entering a dwelling house in the daytime with intent to commit a felony, Massachusetts State Police said.

Detectives believe the victims were targeted, at least in part, because of their ethnicity.

“The residents of the majority of homes were persons of Indian or South Asian heritage,” police said. “Investigators believe that they were targeted based on of their ethnicity, relying on a belief that their households were more likely to contain precious metals, jewelry and other valuable heirlooms.”

The items stolen ranged from cash to gold and diamond jewelry with individual value of up to $75,000 each. In all, the pilfered pieces were valued at more than $4 million.

The burglaries were well-planned and sometimes difficult to execute, records indicate. In several cases, the stolen property had been secured in locked safes weighing up to 400 pounds, authorities said.

Nevertheless, the safes were taken, along with the items locked inside.

All four men were arrested Friday morning by members of the U.S. Marshals Service and the Rhode Island State Police Task Force.

“The defendants in this case were very sophisticated,” Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said in a statement. “They targeted victims based on their ethnicity and then gathered information about their targets in order to strike when families were not at home. They were disciplined in concealing their identity, avoiding alarms and minimizing cell phone use before, during and after the break-ins and using Wi-Fi jammers.”

The nine-month investigation included detectives from the District Attorney’s Office and law enforcement agencies from both Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

“The theft crew we arrested today stole countless items of great monetary, emotional and cultural value from families in multiple states, and did so by violating the sanctity of their homes,” Massachusetts State Police Lt. Col. Mark Cyr said. “Such brazen criminal actions will not be tolerated in our communities.

“This investigation highlights the dedication of our law enforcement partners to work collaboratively to take down complex criminal networks.”

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