19-year-old pleads guilty to racketeering in cellphone theft ring
Credit: MGN
A 19-year-old St. Paul man entered a guilty plea Tuesday in connection with his role in a cellphone theft ring.
Charlie Pryor Jr. was charged with racketeering, along with 11 others.
As previously reported, authorities say the ring victimized over 40 people and operated for over a year between June 2021 and May 2022 in downtown Minneapolis.
RELATED: 12 charged following investigation into cellphone theft, fraud operation in Minneapolis
The group would often target people leaving bars around closing time and sometimes took their cell phones by force. The suspects would also use the victims’ phones to transfer money to themselves.
The suspects then funneled the stolen phones to a man identified as Zhongshuang Su, nicknamed “the iPhone Man,” who would then sell the phones. Authorities say that Su sent over four dozen phones to Hong Kong and over two dozen phones to his employer.
The thefts are estimated to cost over $300,000 in total.