Two railroad contractors were indicted by a federal grand jury in Kansas on charges related to using their positions to orchestrate a scheme of swiping expensive watches and selling them online.
Gerald “Jerry” Ditz and Michael Alaniz were indicted in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas in July. The men were employed as engineers by ConGlobal, an Atlanta-based freight-contracting company, and worked at the Santa Teresa intermodal train station in New Mexico, where they used their roles to sell Garmin watches stolen from a shipping container, the indictment says.
Investigators also found the stolen watches have registrations that appear to be connected to more than a dozen individuals — approximately 15% of the workforce — assigned or previously assigned to the Santa Teresa facility.
Charging documents say a Garmin shipping container from Taiwan was the target of theft. Some 1,500 electronic devices were missing when it arrived at its Kansas warehouse. The items were believed to be stolen in May 2023 at or near the Santa Teresa facility.
The day the Garmin container departed the Santa Teresa facility – a day when Ditz was scheduled to work – two Garmin watches were activated and registered to jerryditz@yahoo.com, the indictment says. Ditz then allegedly created an eBay account where he advertised the stolen items.
Ditz sold at least 37 Garmin watches, 30 of which were shipped from El Paso, Texas, to buyers outside of Texas, charging documents say. The watches ranged in value from $599 to $1,124.
The man unknowingly sold at least two watches to FBI agents, the indictment says. The watches’ serial numbers matched those of ones stolen from the Garmin container.
Alaniz and his wife, who was not identified in the indictment, also created eBay accounts to sell stolen items, charging documents say. They sold at least 15 watches.
Ditz in May 2023 allegedly exchanged Facebook messages with an unidentified person, telling him, “Keep finding buyers man ill [sic] keep supplying. We can find a way to give you your cut as well.”
He also offered to trade a watch for a golf club and messaged with others on Facebook trying to sell the watches, the indictment says.
The men were charged with conspiracy to transport stolen property, interstate transportation of stolen property, mail and wire fraud conspiracy, and mail fraud. They appeared in court in July.
Ditz does not appear to have an attorney. Alaniz’s attorney did not immediately respond to a FreightWaves inquiry.
ConGlobal did not immediately respond to a FreightWaves inquiry.