AURORA | A jury has convicted a 45-year-old man for his role in a large-scale organized burglary ring that targeted Asian business owners across the metropolitan area, according to the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
“This was not random or opportunistic crime,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Osama Magrebi said in a statement. “Through painstaking investigative work across multiple jurisdictions, law enforcement was able to dismantle this operation and hold this defendant accountable.”
Freddy Giovanni Castro Garzon was found guilty Thursday following a three-week trial that featured testimony from dozens of witnesses and more than 900 exhibits, judicial district spokesperson Eric Ross said in a statement.
Prosecutors said the case stemmed from a long investigation into a pattern of residential burglaries that began in late 2023 and continued into early 2025.
The burglaries spanned multiple jurisdictions, including Adams and Arapahoe counties, as well as the cities of Arvada, Aurora, Broomfield, Denver, Fort Collins, Lakewood, Longmont, Parker, Thornton, Westminster and Windsor. Authorities said the homes primarily belonged to Asian business owners and that significant amounts of cash, expensive jewelry and designer items were stolen.
Investigators identified more than a dozen suspects who participated in spying on businesses such as liquor stores, restaurants and nail salons before following owners home and targeting their residences.
Once a home was selected, members of the burglary ring often broke in through rear windows or sliding glass doors, prosecutors said.
Police said the group used “sophisticated methods” to avoid detection, including disabling or disrupting Wi-Fi-based security systems, using multiple vehicles, switching or displaying fictitious license plates and conducting coordinated surveillance before attempted break-ins.
On March 18 last year, in Watkins, a car associated with Garzon’s gang traveled to the home of a liquor store owner whose business had previously been scoped out, according to evidence presented at trial.
Prosecutors said the vehicle circled the property and drove into a nearby field while assessing the home but did not carry out the burglary, likely because several cars were parked outside, indicating someone was home, Ross said in a statement.
Automated license plate reader systems placed vehicles tied to earlier burglaries near multiple crime scenes and casing locations, Ross said. Detectives documented that the suspect vehicle frequently changed license plates, a tactic regularly used to evade police identification.
Investigators also obtained a warrant to install electronic tracking devices on vehicles connected to the burglary ring.
Tracking data showed repeated travel between suspect residences, targeted businesses and the homes of business owners across several jurisdictions, prosecutors said.
Police conducted extensive physical surveillance and reviewed hours of video from residential neighborhoods and commercial areas, which authorities said linked coordinated movements between multiple vehicles before and after burglary-related activity.
Additional evidence included pawn shop records involving valuable jewelry shortly after burglary incidents, prosecutors said. Detectives reviewed pawn records and surveillance footage to establish timelines and corroborate the broader pattern of activity.
The jury convicted Garzon on multiple felony counts, including racketeering and conspiracy; six counts of second-degree burglary, Class 3 felonies; one count of theft between $100,000 and $1 million, a Class 3 felony; two counts of theft between $20,000 and $100,000, Class 4 felonies; and one count of theft between $2,000 and $5,000, a Class 6 felony.
Assistant Chief Deputy District Attorney Johnny Lombardi said the verdict shows that “sophisticated criminal tactics will not shield offenders from justice.”
“We believe the evidence shows this crime ring went to great lengths to avoid detection, but the jury saw the pattern,” Lombardi said. “They saw the preparation and they saw the overwhelming evidence tying Garzon to this organized burglary enterprise.”
Garzon faces up to 72 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for later this year.
District Attorney Amy Padden said the case required extensive collaboration among agencies.
“Cases like this are extraordinarily complex and require relentless dedication from our law enforcement across multiple jurisdictions,” Padden said. “Without that commitment and collaboration, justice simply would not have been possible.”