In the age of modern technology, conveniences can be right at a doorstop and just the click of a button away.
But on the other hand, it opens the door for fraud, abuse, and a series of events with unpredictable dangers.
On Tuesday, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney announced the indictment of fourteen conspirators for allegedly operating a criminal organization that stole FedEx packages containing cell phones and electronic devices throughout Suffolk County. From Huntington to Montauk, this “porch pirate” ring is alleged to have operated in broad daylight and without alerting hardly any residents.
Andricson Jerez, 29, of the Bronx, is alleged to have been the ringleader of the operation.
“For two years, this porch pirate ring plagued our community and built a criminal enterprise on the backs of Suffolk families and businesses,” said D.A. Tierney in a statement. “These indictments demonstrate that we will track down and hold accountable those who commit crimes against Suffolk County residents, regardless of how extensive their operations.
As per the investigation, between October 2023 and February 2025, Jerez is alleged to have run the operation from two Bronx locations and to have employed a network of “runners”, who were given inside FedEx tracking information, including recipient names, addresses, device types, and tracking number from shipments from Verizon and AT&T postmarked for Suffolk.
The runners allegedly would then steal the packages from residences and business and deliver the devices to Jerez at a “fencing location” at 2227 University Avenue in the Bronx. Jerez is alleged to have confirmed the inventory of stolen devices through encrypted messages containing the devices’ identification numbers. The stolen devices were then allegedly shipped in garbage bags to a “trash house” at 2112 Quimby Avenue in the Bronx, where Jerez then sold them in bulk to wholesalers for their redistribution domestically and internationally.
Within the Town of Smithtown, locations of the pirates’ ring include Hauppauge, Kings Park, and Nesconset; within the Town of Brookhaven, Bellport, Brookhaven hamlet, East Setauket, Holbrook, Holtsville, Mastic, Miller Place, Port Jefferson, Ronkonkoma, Selden, and Shirley; within the Town of Islip, Bay Shore, Bayport, Brentwood, Central Islip, Holbrook, Holtsville, Ronkonkoma, Sayville, and West Islip.
Shockingly, the devices were not genuine purchases made by the average consumer, who then had their deliveries lifted from their porches. These were made internally through a hack of the FedEx system, with unsuspecting addresses used as the fronts. Several Ring camera videos show the delivery being made by FedEx, only for one of the pirates to arrive almost immediately after and swipe the parcel.
However, several occasions resulted in close calls with the general public, whose knowledge of the scheme was otherwise not intended.
On September 13, 2024, Luger Guerrero, 26, of Manhattan, and others allegedly pushed a FedEx driver to the ground at a Hauppauge business and stole the package containing fifteen Samsung tablets.
On September 18, 2024, Felipe Batista, 22, of the Bronx, allegedly forcibly stole a package from a Suffolk resident shortly after delivery.
On October 8, 2024, Leonel Tejeda Reynoso, 32, of the Bronx, allegedly used a fake identification at a Melville FedEx center to claim a package containing an iPad Pro tablet valued at over $1,000.
The cash recovered from the Bronx lockup sits at about $120,000 – an effective minimum estimate for the total revenue the stolen goods brought in. The phones are then alleged to have been used for illicit purposes. D.A. Tierney cannot state the international destinations of these devices at this time.
“These phones were being sent to these addresses under fictitious names. The residents would have no idea about the deliveries,” D.A. Tierney told The Messenger at his Hauppauge office on Tuesday evening. “Essentially, their homes were just being used by the co-conspirators as convenient drop-off points for them to come and get the phones.”
Of the brazenness of the crimes, Tierney said that the Bronx-based crew allegedly ran in Suffolk likely to hide in plain sight.
“In Suffolk County, people go to work; they’re not home. There’s no doorman; everything is spread out,” said Tierney. “There’s less eyes here.”
Tierney added that the investigation was performed in cooperation with federal and NYPD partners. The phone companies became aware and cooperated with law enforcement as well.
Of the fourteen conspirators, one, Alvaro Alvarez Fermin, was placed into custody of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He then self-deported and remains at large.
Jerez has been charged with Enterprise Corruption, a Class B felony; ten counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, Class D felonies; twenty-eight counties of Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, Class E felonies; and ten counts of Petit Larceny, Class A misdemeanors. He faces a mandatory indeterminate sentence of at least one to three years in prison with a maximum of eight and one-third years to twenty-five years. He posted his $75,000 bond and is due back in court on December 15.
