SALT LAKE CITY – Two men who were arrested in Utah with a semitrailer and more than 5,000 pairs of shoes that were reported stolen in Oregon have been indicted for interstate transportation of stolen property and re-entering the country after a previous deportation.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Juan Carlos Andino-Mejia, 24 of Los Angeles and a citizen of Honduras, and Marlon Emilio Vasquez-Garcia, 45 of Los Angeles and a citizen of El Salvador, were indicted by a federal grand jury in Utah Wednesday.
The indictment alleges the men transported 5,820 pairs of Keen Shoes with a value of more than $5,000 from Multnomah County, Oregon to Box Elder County, Utah. Police stated earlier they estimated the value of the stolen footwear at more than $1 million. The shoes were in a semitrailer that was reported stolen from a trucking company in Oregon.
The trucking company provided law enforcement with GPS coordinates from the truck, which was located by police at a truck stop in Box Elder County on March 23. The men were arrested by local police, and ICE Enforcement and Removal officers also contributed to the investigation.
Police stated at the time of the arrest that the men lacked documentation to confirm their identities and that they provided agents with, “some vague information about how they’d come into possession of the semi-truck and what they were planning to do with it.”
The press release states the two men have used a variety of names and “have had multiple deportations from the United States.”
The men each face up to 10 years in prison for one count of interstate transportation of stolen goods and up to 10 years in prison for one count of re-entering the country after a previous deportation, according to the press release.
Indictments are not findings of guilt, and individuals charged in indictments are presumed innocent unless or until they are proven guilty in court. The initial court date for the pair has not yet been scheduled.
