CINCINNATI (WXIX) – A federal indictment unsealed Tuesday in Florida charges seven suspects from South America with a crime spree of burglaries of star athletes’ homes including three already facing federal and state charges in the break-in at the home of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.

Their crime scheme included robberies of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce’s homes last fall, federal officials allege in newly filed court records.

Mahomes’ home was burglarized on Oct. 5, 2024, and Kelce’s residence was broken into two days later as the Chiefs played the New Orleans Saints in a Monday Night Football game.

Four of the suspects charged Tuesday are Pablo Zuniga Cartes, 24; Ignacio Zuniga Cartes, 20; Alexander Huiaguil Chavez, 24 and Bastian Jimenez Freraut, 27.

The other three also were recently charged in Ohio with the Dec. 9 break-in at Burrow’s Anderson Township home: Sergio Cabello, 38, Jordan Sanchez, 22 and Bastian Morales, 23, federal court records show.

All seven of the men now face a federal charge in Florida of conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property.

If convicted in just the case announced Tuesday, they each face a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Middle District of Florida announced.

Suspects victimized ‘professional athletes around the country’

The seven suspects “were members of a South American Theft Group that burglarized the homes of professional athletes around the country,” federal prosecutors said in the news release.

“These individuals targeted high-profile athletes in the National Football League (“NFL”) and National Basketball Association (“NBA”), all of whom were away or playing in professional games at the times of the burglaries. These individuals stole valuables worth over $2 million.

“On October 5 and 7, 2024, in the Kansas City area, the homes of two Kansas City Chiefs football players were burglarized and jewelry, watches, cash, and other luxury merchandise was taken. The October 7 burglary occurred while the team played in Kansas City, Missouri,” according to the news release.

“As detailed in the complaint, in Tampa on October 21, 2024, the home of a Tampa Bay Buccaneers player was burglarized while the team played in Tampa. Jewelry, designer watches, a luxury suitcase, and a firearm were stolen.

“On November 2, 2024, the Wisconsin home of a Milwaukee Bucks player was burglarized during a game in Milwaukee. A safe containing several watches, chains, personal items, jewelry, and cash was stolen, along with a designer suitcase and designer bags. The total value of property stolen was approximately $1.484 million.”

The criminal complaint includes a photograph of three of the defendants — Pablo Zuniga Cartes, Ignacio Zuniga Cartes and Freraut — as well as a fourth unidentified individual posing with a safe and jewelry that authorities said was taken shortly after the burglary at the home of Milwaukee Bucks player Bobby Portis.

Break-in at Joe Burrow’s house

The federal news release goes on to detail the suspects’ alleged invovlement in the break-in at Burrow’s home the night of a Monday Night Football game in Dallas, Texas.

“On December 9, 2024, the Cincinnati home of a Cincinnati Bengals player was burglarized while the team played Arlington, Texas. Designer luggage, glasses, watches, and jewelry valued at about $300,000 was stolen. Sergio Ortega Cabello rented a vehicle used in the burglary,” prosecutors wrote in the release.

In addition to the burglaries at the homes of Mahomes, Kelce, Portis and Burrow, the FBI linked the theft group to an October 2024 burglary of a Tampa Bay Buccaneers player while the team was playing the Baltimore Ravens in Tampa, according to the complaint. The thieves stole items worth $167,000, according to the complaint.

The theft group was also linked to the December 2024 burglary at the home of a Memphis Grizzlies player targeted in Tennessee while the team was playing Golden State in Memphis, according to the complaint. The burglars stole jewelry, watches and luxury bags valued at $1 million, according to the complaint.

The complaint alleged that the burglars had a “clear and consistent modus operandi” that began with identifying an ideal target based on the publicly available schedules and locations of professional athletes. They would enter through a broken window or by using a crowbar to pry open a sliding door, according to the complaint.

Once inside, they found the highest-valued items including jewelry like watches before leaving the residence, federal court records show.

The complaint also noted the suspect used “throw phones” for just one month to “thwart law enforcement.”

At least one burglary occurred in Hillsborough, Florida, where the complaint was filed, federal court records show.

The suspects rented vehicles in Florida that were “later found in the vicinity of burglaries committed nationwide of prominent athletes,” the complaint stated.

This case is the result of a massive investigation by the FBI and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations; United States Customs and Border Patrol, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, the Dallas Police Department, the Indian Hill Police Department, the Leawood Police Department in Kansas, the River Hills Police Department in Wisconsin.

“This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation,” the federal news release says. “The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious transnational criminal organizations.”

One of the photos federal officials included in court records recently filed in Cincinnati shows three of the suspects charged here who also now face federal charges in Florida as part of the wider crime gang wearing Burrow’s iconic “9″ and “JB9″ necklaces.

The Cincinnati office of the FBI also posted this photo to its social media account earlier this month:

The three men already charged in Ohio, Cabello, Sanchez and Morales, have pleaded not guilty to state charges of participating in a criminal gang, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, obstructing official business and possession of criminal tools as well as federal charges of transporting stolen goods interstate and falsifying records in a federal investigation.

Falsification of records in a federal investigation carries a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

Federal officials in Cincinnati recently said their “investigation remains ongoing as these individuals seem to be the alleged tip of the iceberg of South American Theft Groups committing crimes throughout our district and elsewhere.

“We owe it to the victims, whether they are or are not professional athletes, to follow the evidence into these alleged criminal networks and hold the law-breakers accountable,” then-U.S. Attorney of the Southern District of Ohio Ken Parker in a Feb. 5 news release.

“I cannot thank our law enforcement partners enough for their commitment to working together to track down these perpetrators. Today is a day that law enforcement scored and spiked the ball.”

“South American Theft Groups have been a major concern in the Cincinnati area,” FBI Cincinnati Special Agent in Charge Elena Iatarola added in the news release. “We appreciate the partnerships of all the agencies involved in the Southwest Ohio South American Theft Group Task Force for their hard work on this investigation.”

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said in the same release: “The Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission was created for – and excels at – these types of complex, multi-jurisdictional cases. I’m proud of the work done so far, and look forward to more results as our task force continues its work.”

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