Two Yorktown Heights Men Plead Guilty To $1M Computer Heist
Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim announced Thursday two brothers from Yorktown Heights pleaded guilty to stealing transporting and selling nearly 1,200 computers valued at more than a $1 million.
Forty-two-year-old Gjon Saljanin and 45-year-old Anton Saljanin, both of New York conspired to steal about 1,200 computers bound for two New Jersey high schools on January 15, 2014. Anton Saljanin, a driver for a shipping company, and his brother drove a truck from Yorktown Heights to Massachusetts, where they picked up the shipment of computers, according to court documents.
On January 16, 2014 Anton Saljanin went to the Yorktown Police Department and reported the truck and computer shipment stolen. He returned to the police department later that day to say he saw the truck in a parking lot in Danbury, Connecticut from the highway. It was later determined that the truck would not have been visible from the highway. Cell site data contradicted his claims about the route he took to search for the truck.
Investigation revealed the windows of the truck had been broken out in Yorktown Heights and not in Danbury. The defendants claimed on January 15, 2014, they drove from convenience store just outside Yorktown Heights to the parking lot in Yorktown Heights. While surveillance footage showed the truck departing their claimed route, it showed the truck traveling to Ujka Vulaj’s residence instead of the parking lot in Yorktown Heights. Vulaj, 56, is a long-time friend of Anton Saljanin.
Vulaj eventually sold the computers with the help of Carlos Caceres, a co-worker, for approximately $500 to $800 in cash. The computers had a retail value of about $1,000.
Anton Saljanin is facing approximately 15 years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for February 6, 2018. Gjon Saljanin is facing a 5-year prison sentence and is scheduled to be sentencing on February 2, 2018.
On June 17, 2016, Vulaj pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $889,424.15 and pay $889,424.15 in restitution.
Caceres, 39, of the Bronx, pleaded guilty on July 21, 2016 to conspiracy to commit receipt, possession and sale of stolen property. He was sentenced to 27 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $331,188 in restitution and ill-gotten gains.
