Leroy Ortega, 43, of Miami, the final defendant in a federal prosecution targeting a transnational Colombian robbery crew, was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison on May 1, 2026, in the Southern District of Florida [1]. Ortega, known by the alias "El Enano," had previously pleaded guilty to Hobbs Act robbery conspiracy and two counts of robbery [1]. The case, dubbed Operation Boujee Bandits, involved 11 defendants in total and produced more than $5 million in losses from jewelry thefts across South Florida [1].
The crew systematically targeted jewelry salespersons operating throughout the South Florida region [1]. Federal prosecutors charged the defendants under the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1951, which covers robbery and extortion affecting interstate commerce and carries substantial sentencing exposure. The FBI Tampa Field Office led the investigation, coordinating with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida to build the multi-defendant case [1]. The ten co-defendants sentenced before Ortega received terms ranging from 60 to 168 months in prison [1], meaning Ortega received the lowest sentence of the group.
Ortega's guilty plea preceded his sentencing by several months, with the plea entered in February 2026 [1]. His 57-month term falls below the range imposed on earlier co-defendants, a disparity consistent with cooperation or other mitigating considerations weighed at sentencing, though the public record does not detail the precise basis for the variance. The U.S. Department of Justice confirmed the sentence through a May 1 announcement, marking the formal close of the prosecution [2].
With Ortega's sentencing, Operation Boujee Bandits concludes as one of the more significant Hobbs Act prosecutions in the Southern District of Florida targeting a South American theft organization. Federal law enforcement has tracked a pattern of Colombian criminal crews conducting coordinated smash-and-grab and follow-home robberies against jewelry merchants and salespeople across multiple U.S. jurisdictions in recent years. The closure of this case does not preclude further investigative activity against related networks, and the sentencing record, spanning 11 defendants and sentences of up to 14 years, signals the government's continued use of Hobbs Act conspiracy charges as a tool against transnational robbery enterprises operating in the United States.
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