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Four of the five men apprehended for a conspicuous midday robbery at San Ramon’s City Center Bishop Ranch last year are set to face federal prison sentences with stipulations orders and additional hearings still to come for the fifth.
Paul Tonga and Kyle Vehikite were sentenced to three years in federal prison followed by an additional three years of supervised release at the conclusion of the federal trial in early November, with John Tupou and Sunia Faavesi each sentenced to 42-month prison sentences as well as three years of supervised release.
The fifth defendant, Ryan Montgomery, has not yet been sentenced following a motion that was granted to allow his defense team more time to review evidence.
Vehikite, Faavesi, Tupou and Tonga pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to engage in robbery affecting interstate commerce and one count of robbery affecting interstate commerce, with the case against Montgomery and his plea still pending as of this week.
All of the defendants were taken into custody last July, with the exception of Tupou, who was able to evade authorities until September 2023, for nearly two months after federal charges against the group were first announced.
The bold, midday heist in which one of the perpetrators was armed with a gun on the afternoon of St. Patrick’s Day 2023 in the busy shopping center was one of the largest and most prominent of its kind in the Tri-Valley, with the perpetrators taking more than $1.1 million in merchandise from Heller Jewelers before fleeing the scene. The haul included a Rolex watch equipped with a GPS tracker, which enabled authorities to track down the first perpetrator and make connections to the others.
Montgomery’s case is scheduled for a status conference on Dec. 16, with Vehikite, Tupou, Tonga, and Faavesi scheduled for restitution hearings on Feb. 3.
