A key member of an international burglary crew that targeted jewelry stores and banks has been sentenced to 27 months in prison, according to court records.
Elvis Cirikovic, aka “Gorilla”, 37, of Queens, New York, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero on January 10, 2020.
Judge Marrero also ordered Cirikovic to pay $2.5 million in restitution.
The Pejcinovic Enterprise
Cirikovic was a member of a four-man burglary crew allegedly led by Damir Pejcinovic, 46, of Manhattan. The other members are Adrian Fiseku, 37, and Gzimi Bojkovic, 38, both of Staten Island. Bojkovic is Pejcinovic’s brother-in-law and was his right-hand man.
All four men were indicted on multiple charges in October 2018.
According to the indictment, the crew committed sixteen burglaries and attempted burglaries in the U.S. and Europe between 2006 and 2017.
The crew used power tools, saws, sledgehammers, and spray foam to break into buildings, stores, display cases, and safes. They disabled security systems by cutting telephone lines, using cellphone jammers, and cutting off power to buildings.
Pejcinovic selected the targets and planned how the jobs would be carried out. He would assign members to a particular job based on their skill set. Pejcinovic acted as a lookout and gave instructions without stepping into the locations.
Cirikovic participated in five burglaries with the Pejcinovic Enterprise
According to prosecutors, Cirikovic participated in five burglaries and attempted burglaries between 2008 and 2013.
In March 2008, Cirikovic, Pejcinovic, and Bojkovic burglarized a jewelry store in Manhattan. They stole around 500 pounds of gold jewelry valued at more than $2.5 million. Pejcinovic was captured on surveillance video conducting reconnaissance five days before the burglary. Law enforcement officers found burglary tools in Pejcinovic’s car with DNA matching Pejcinovic and Cirikovic two days after the burglary.
In October 2008, Cirikovic and Pejcinovic attempted to rob a gold workshop in Frankfurt, Germany. They gained access to the safe room by knocking down a wall with a sledgehammer. Police found cut phone lines, a demolished switch box, and a cellphone jammer at the scene. The burglars abandoned more than €10 million worth of gold jewelry on a loading dock.
In September 2011, Cirikovic, Pejcinovic, and three others were apprehended after they burglarized a jewelry store in Los Angeles, California. Law enforcement officers recovered jewelry valued at more than $150,000 from an empty apartment in a nearby building.
In June 2012, Cirikovic, Pejcinovic, and two others attempted to burglarize a bank in Scarsdale, New York. They fled after setting off an alarm while attempting to break in through the roof.
In the Fall of 2013, Cirikovic, Pejcinovic, and Bojkovic burglarized a jewelry store in New Jersey. They entered the store through a second-floor window and made off with mostly worthless costume jewelry.
Cirikovic pleads guilty
In August 2019, Cirikovic pleaded guilty to participating in a racketeering conspiracy.
At the plea hearing, he admitted that he participated in the March 2008 burglary, the October 2008 burglary, and the September 2011 burglary. Cirikovic also admitted that he transported stolen goods across state lines.
The plea agreement included a sentencing range of 33 to 41 months in prison.
Cirikovic’s sentencing hearing
Cirikovic’s sentencing hearing took place in Manhattan federal court.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Chan requested a sentence of 33 to 41 months in prison. Chan said that Cirikovic committed a serious offense, and that he was a member of a sophisticated burglary crew that pulled off a series of multimillion dollar heists. He pointed out that it took the FBI and the NYPD 10 years to gather enough evidence to bring charges. Chan said that the crew targeted small businesses, and a number of the businesses were ruined financially.
Chan also noted that in November 2013, Cirikovic was convicted of committing two burglaries in New York City in 2010.
Cirikovic’s defense
Cirikovic’s attorney, Arthur Ken Womble, asked for a sentence of time served.
According to Cirikovic’s sentencing submission, he was born in the former Yugoslavia in 1982, and he grew up in the Bosnian section of the Yugoslav Federation. As a child, he witnessed sectarian violence that turned into a war that lasted from 1992 through 1995. In 2001, Cirikovic’s family fled to Croatia and applied for asylum in the U.S. They settled in New York and Cirikovic began working in construction with former Yugoslavian refugees at the age of 18.
Cirikovic was introduced to Pejcinovic by friends from work, and Pejcinovic offered him a path to riches. Womble said that Cirikovic left the Pejcinovic crew after he was charged in New York State court in November 2013 and sentenced to probation.
Cirikovic became a “law abiding member of society” and ran a small construction business until “everything came crashing down” when he was taken into immigration custody in May 2018 to face removal proceedings.
In October 2018, he was transferred to the Southern District of New York to face criminal charges.
Womble asked Judge Marrero to consider that Cirikovic will spend more time in immigration detention following the completion of his sentence, and he is likely to be deported because he is not a U.S. citizen.
Cirikovic will reach the end of his sentence in September 2020.