Deportation Ordered for Man Who Took Bacardi Fur, Gems
An Argentine dog handler accused of stealing $1.1 million in jewelry and furs from a former member of the Bacardi rum family has been ordered out of the country.
Clemente Luis Gerez, 30, agreed to the deportation in a bargain with prosecutors, who allowed him to plead no contest to a reduced charge of second-degree larceny.
Federal Immigration Judge Billino D’Ambrosio ordered the deportation, expected Monday, at a hearing Thursday.
Gerez was accused of stealing in February a $90,000 sable coat and 301 pieces of diamond, sapphire, and emerald jewelry from a suburban apartment he shared with Rosalia Del Campo Bacardi, who hired him two years ago to train animals.
The incident stemmed from a lovers’ quarrel between Gerez and his employer, the former wife of a director of the Bacardi Corp., defense attorney M. Hatcher Norris said during Gerez’s sentencing Wednesday in Hartford Superior Court.
Norris said Gerez traveled to Washington, D.C., but later returned to Connecticut intending to give back the valuables and make up with Bacardi.
“But there would be no kissing and making up in this case,” Norris said. “Law enforcement officials would be waiting for him.”
Gerez was arrested at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, where police found the items in his van.
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