Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - A Colombian national was arrested in Colombia and extradited to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania last night on charges related to his alleged role in the robbery of an employee of a New York business that sold jewelry and gemstones.
Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Special Agent in Charge Robert Allan Jones of the FBI’s Pittsburgh Field Division and Chief T. Robert Amann for the Northern Regional Police Department in Wexford, Pennsylvania made the announcement.
Oscar Javier Rodriguez Roa, 35, of Bogota, Columbia, was charged by indictment unsealed Thursday in the Western District of Pennsylvania with one count of conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act Robbery and one count of Hobbs Act Robbery. Roa is scheduled to make his initial court appearance in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh before U.S. Magistrate Judge Maureen P. Kelly.
The indictment alleges that on May 8, 2013, in the Western District of Pennsylvania, Roa and others conspired to rob and robbed an employee of a New York business that sold jewelry and gemstones. Roa and others allegedly took jewelry and gemstones from the employee against his will by actual and threatened force, violence, and fear of injury.
The investigation of this case was led by the FBI’s Pittsburgh Field Division, with the assistance of the Northern Regional Police Department. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided significant support with the defendant’s extradition.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles A. Eberle of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania and Trial Attorney Leshia Lee-Dixon of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section in the Justice Department are prosecuting the case.
