Illegal Immigrant Pleads Guilty to Participating in Beverly Hills Watch Robbery

The defendant faces 20 years in federal prison for the $1 million watch heist.

An outdoor seating area across the street from the Beverly Wilshire hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on March 18, 2020. Mario Tama/Getty Images

An illegal immigrant from Colombia pleaded guilty on March 17 to a federal charge for helping a robbery crew that held a gun to a man’s head before stealing his million-dollar watch while he ate dinner with his wife and twin 5-year-old daughters on the patio of a hotel restaurant in Beverly Hills, California, last year.

Jamer Mauricio Sepulveda Salazar, 22, of Colombia, pleaded guilty Monday to one count of interference with commerce by robbery, a federal Hobbs Act violation because the crime occurred next to a major roadway.

The defendant has been in federal custody since August 2024. Salazar was charged on Aug. 13, along with Jesus Eduardo Padron Rojas, 20, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela.

The victim was eating dinner with his family at “THE Blvd” at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel at about 6:40 p.m. Aug. 7, when one of the suspects pointed a handgun at him and appeared to pull back the slide to load a bullet in the chamber, according to court documents. The other suspect removed the victim’s $1 million silver Patek Philippe Nautilus watch from his wrist.

The victim, “fearing for his and his family’s lives,” let the suspect take his watch without a struggle, according to Thomas Ferguson, a federal deportation officer with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Authorities say video footage of the patio robbery showed the crime took only seconds. Both suspects fled the scene in a Toyota Corolla and were located on Aug. 10 at an Airbnb.

Los Angeles federal prosecutors charged two South American nationals with robbery after a man was reportedly held at gunpoint in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Aug. 7, 2024, at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel and robbed of his $1 million designer watch. Courtesy of the U.S. Attorney’s Office

Salazar signed a plea agreement that stated he was the getaway driver during the robbery.

While searching the Airbnb, authorities claimed they found multiple firearms, including a Glock .45-caliber handgun loaded with 12 rounds of .45-caliber ammunition. The gun was previously registered to the late former Los Angeles Police Officer Christopher Dorner, known for committing a series of murders before dying in a standoff with law enforcement in February 2013.

The hotel, located on Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, was forced to temporarily stop service and void charges for customers who fled during the robbery.

The victim submitted an insurance claim for the full value of the watch, according to court documents.

Salazar’s co-defendant, Rojas, allegedly cased the area two days before the robbery, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Los Angeles federal prosecutors charged two South American nationals with robbery after a man was reportedly held at gunpoint in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Aug. 7, 2024, at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel and robbed of his $1 million designer watch. The suspects fled in a blue Toyota Corolla. Courtesy of the U.S. Attorney’s Office

While the defendants were casing the restaurant, they allegedly robbed another victim walking in Beverly Hills, taking a $30,000 Rolex wristwatch at gunpoint during the crime, federal prosecutors said.

Salazar is scheduled for a July 14 sentencing hearing. He faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

Criminal charges are still pending against Rojas.