Jewelry Store Robber Gets 21 Years In Prison

A man described by law enforcement officials as the mastermind in a series of armed robberies of jewelry stores was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in New Haven to more than 21 years in prison.

Charles Kertesz, 37, who had addresses in Milford and Bridgeport, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for armed robberies at four jewelry stores. He pleaded guilty in February.

Kertesz was sentenced to an additional 18 months for violating terms of his supervised release for a prior federal conviction.

Officials said Kertesz committed armed robberies at a Hannoush jewelry store in Natick, Mass., on July 20, 2005; the South Windsor Lux Bond & Green on Feb. 1, 2006; the Betteridge jewelry store in Greenwich on Sept. 1, 2006; and the Glastonbury Lux Bond & Green on Sept. 21, 2006.

In the first two robberies, Kertesz disguised himself as a woman. During the second two, he wore a motorcycle helmet.

On Feb. 5, an accomplice admitted his role in the South Windsor and Natick robberies. Anthony Curral, of Ansonia, was sentenced in April to 70 months in prison.

Two other conspirators, Eric Ortiz and Ernesto Ortiz, pleaded guilty to charges related to their roles in the Greenwich robbery. They are awaiting sentencing.

The robbers got $260,000 worth of merchandise in the South Windsor robbery, $190,000 from Natick and $200,000 from Glastonbury. In the Greenwich robbery, Kertesz loaded $4.7 million worth of merchandise into a backpack, but dropped the backpack when a Greenwich police officer confronted him in front of the store.

Souce: Courant.com