All language subtitles for American Greed s12e11 Operation Crook Line and Stinker

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In this episode of American Greed. It
was like Ocean's Eleven, just without

Pitt, George Clooney, and Matt Damon.

A brazen band of burglars with an
arsenal to match.

They used crowbars, they used hydraulic
lifts, acetylene torches.

I turn this on right now.

Your cell phones aren't going to work.
And the loot is piling up.

Everything was gone.

Everything was gone.

$150 ,000 here, $1 .9 million there.

They took 45 ,000 pairs of high -end
sunglasses valued at in excess of $3

million. And even the most seasoned
detectives can't pin them down.

We had nothing up our sleeve.

Because this crew has the law on its
side.

This was a conscious decision to not
protect and serve, to do the opposite.

A crooked New York City cop who knows
all the tricks.

He used what we know against us.

Each time investigators turn up the
heat.

He knew right away that our everyday
techniques would be ineffective against

this crew. Each time they think they
have the upper hand.

And I'm thinking, we've got them.

These crooks have other plans.

They can't help themselves, and this is
how they made a living.

It takes a big set of stones to do
something like that.

Long Island, New York.

Arrow Produce is a thriving fruit and
vegetable wholesale distributor with

customers up and down the East Coast.

In the summer of 2010, business is good.
They're running almost around the

clock.

It is my home. I'm here more than I am
at my house.

But in the wee hours of Sunday, July
11th, The warehouse has a short stretch

downtime, and that's when co -owner Mike
Longo gets a call at home.

Nothing good happens at 3 o 'clock in
the morning. There's nothing, and you

a phone call. It's never good news.

He arrives to find a surreal scene.

Someone has entered through an unlocked
upstairs window.

They've cut the phone lines and removed
the recording equipment for the security

cameras.

The first floor office, it ran back.

I walk out of the office, not really
sure what was going on, and I see yellow

spray paint, and it's basically graffiti
on the wall, and it says, for the safe,

take the onion.

And at that point, I said, uh -oh,
there's a problem.

It's the burglar's twisted, attempted
humor, but what Longo finds just steps

away isn't funny at all.

The solid concrete floor is cracked from
the burglars heaving the safe off of a

second -story ledge to get it out of the
building.

The onions, not surprisingly, are still
there.

The crooks haul out their loot in a
stolen Aero Produce truck.

For Mike Longo, the enormity of what has
happened slowly sinks in.

So now...

You're saying, how did this possibly
happen? And you feel empty inside.

The total haul?

By Longo's estimate, cash and property
worth $150 ,000.

Everything was taken from you.
Everything you worked for your entire

get in at, you know, get up at 2 o
'clock every single morning to make a

for your family and make a living for
all of the families that work for you.

And to know that something was taken
from you, it's very, very difficult to

trust anybody.

But how do the burglars know the only
time when the warehouse will be closed?

How do they know which window to use?

And once inside, how do they find their
way through an old, dark warehouse full

of twists and turns to the exact room
where the security system is?

Could this be an inside job?

We thought right away, oh, it had to be
somebody that we know, somebody that

was in this business. Did we fire an
employee recently? You know, you're

questioning yourself every day.

Could it have been this person? I mean,
I have an identical twin brother that

works for me that I had to question.

But Arrow Produce isn't the only
sophisticated burglary on Long Island.

The string of unsolved crimes goes back
more than a year.

Using heavy equipment, sometimes stolen
from their targets, the burglars hit

businesses, homes, sometimes boats.

They watch the pattern so they know that
person's hours that they're at their

business, the hours they're at their
home, and then ultimately maybe hit

business and hit their home.

In one case, they steal $100 ,000 from a
meat warehouse.

An outrageously successful heist. But
why stop there?

There's more where that came from.

Well, this is a cash business, so maybe
the owner keeps cash from the business

at their home.

They attach a GPS tracking device to the
owner's car to follow her movements.

When she's not at home, they break in
and confirm their hunch to the tune of

$100 ,000 more.

This was far from a smash and grab
operation.

This is, in my experience, likely the
most sophisticated burglary crew that

encountered.

But to Nassau County Detective
Lieutenant John May, the pattern is all

familiar. It reminds him of a case he
had worked on 10 years earlier with

striking similarities.

When I was assigned to the 2nd Squad in
1999, it was a million

-dollar jewelry theft. And from there,
the case.

exponentially exploded into all
numerous, numerous burglaries. And the

all over, taking us all different
directions.

The burglars hit homes and businesses,
all carefully planned and surgically

executed.

They used a lot of different techniques,
a lot of tools.

They would break through walls. They
would steal a tremendous amount.

The total haul?

More than $7 million.

Finally, in 2002, the blockbuster case
hits the headlines.

Police arrest 13 people.

Among them, 29 -year -old Nikitas
Margielos. Crew members call him Little

and not just because he's only 5 '5". He
was not the top of the food chain in

that crew. He was a minor player.

not one of our main pockets.

But Nicky is a quick study.

Raised in the working -class
neighborhood of Ozone Park, Queens, he

early education in the ways of the
street, drinking and gambling.

On the burglary crew, he goes in big on
the business of breaking and entering.

He was a brazen individual that did what
he had to do to make money, wasn't

intimidated, wasn't afraid of law
enforcement.

But little Nicky learns a tough lesson
about overconfidence.

He pleads guilty to a single count of
transporting stolen property.

And in 2004, he is sentenced to five
months in prison, followed by three

probation, which comes to an end just in
time for a new burglary crew to go to

work. They said they're back.

They're back. And we got a case to do.

Only this time, Little Nicky is the big
man in charge, running the operation

from this tool and dye business.

This was the epicenter of our burglary
crew.

Almost all the time they would meet here
before they decided to go out on their

missions.

With a hidden camera atop a nearby
flagpole, Lieutenant John May and his

set up 24 -hour surveillance.

On an April evening in 2011, detectives
are on scene watching from an unmarked

van across the street, and Nicky has had
enough.

So he and crew member Victor Arias
decide to brazenly turn the tables.

Running for cover just isn't their
style.

It was like he was getting ready for a
battle. He comes out, he had a cigarette

in his mouth, and he throws it down,
getting ready. I watched Arias.

Lift up. It appeared to be a weapon of
some sort to expose it. And he walks to

the van, and they approach the van. They
start yelling to the van. They're

rocking it, and they're screaming.

Still trying to maintain their cover,
the police inside stay perfectly still.

And when the coast is clear, they drive
away.

But Nicky isn't done yet.

Our subjects see the van leaving, and
now they go in pursuit of our van.

We had bad guys chasing good guys.

Well, it takes a big set of stones to do
something like that.

The undercover officers manage to signal
a marked SWAT car nearby, which pulls

Nicky and company over just long enough
for the van to get away.

But Nicky has delivered his message, and
the stakes have just gotten higher.

That video, you show it to any cop, and
right away, I'm in. I want part of this

action, because these guys are real bad,
and they're not afraid to go against

the good guys.

But just how do the bad guys seem to
know the good guys' every move?

Up next on American Greed.

We had nothing up our sleeve.

You know, he knew everything.

Nicky Margielos has a secret weapon.

And he carries a bag.

On New York's Long Island, a high -tech
burglary crew is running roughshod,

targeting homes and businesses that have
cash or merchandise the burglars can

sell. Using sophisticated equipment,
they break down doors, cut through

and disable alarm systems before anyone
knows what hit them.

I'm walking around with this officer.
You're saying to yourself, how did

somebody get in here? Right? We have a
camera system. We have an alarm system.

And I wasn't called.

One week after the burglary at Arrow
Produce in July of 2010, Nassau County

detectives spot a suspicious car outside
a local auto parts store.

There were three men in the car. As soon
as they approached the car, the car

took off.

With police in hot pursuit...

Objects begin flying out of the car
windows.

As they're forcing the car over, the
occupants are throwing out crowbars and

masks and scanners and that sort of
thing.

Police arrest the three men for
possession of burglary tools, a

Among those arrested, Nicky Margielos,
who pleads guilty to a lesser charge of

reckless driving.

I recognized the name Nicky Margielos
right away.

The same little Nicky from the crew ten
years before. I knew it was going to be

a big case. A case like this is a big
battle. This is what you look for. You

look to get your army together, fight
their army. It's big time.

Detective Lieutenant John May brings the
case to Assistant District Attorney

Rick Whalen, Chief of the Organized
Crime and Rackets Bureau.

He told me that this is really somebody
that we need to look into.

I was intrigued because Lieutenant May
has a pretty good nose for

investigations. Sort of out of the venue
of the district attorney squad who

investigate burglaries, but he trusted
me and my judgment to go after this

The battle is on.

John May and his team have Nicky
Margiellos and his crew under constant

surveillance, but it doesn't seem to
matter.

Once they decided to commit the
burglary, they would be careful on

They would look for us. They used to do
counter surveillance on us.

Again and again, the burglars give
police the slip.

They had a decoy caught to lead us away,
and the actual burglary crew went and

committed the burglary.

They even figure out how to do a job
while detectives are watching, close

to be seen, too far away to be caught.

Doing a surveillance, you can't be on
top of the individual.

You have to be back so they don't make
you.

They would commit a burglary while we
were in the near vicinity, and they know

it.

Detectives try attaching GPS tracking
devices to the suspects' cars, but the

crooks know to look for them.

In fact, one of the defendants in the
case, he found a tracker, walked into a

precinct, put the tracker on the desk
and said, I believe this belongs to you.

There's a reason this crew can afford to
be cocky.

It finally becomes clear on the night
that Mickey Margielos approaches the

police undercover van.

Another man is seen leaving the shop and
driving off.

Investigators run the plates and trace
the vehicle to New York City police

detective Rafael Astacio.

My first reaction is betrayal.

He's part of our team.

and he turned against us.

This from a man who will later say he
felt called to be a cop.

Rafael D 'Estacio is born in Brooklyn in
1972, a year to the day after his

grandmother is fatally shot in a
domestic dispute.

On the day he graduates from the police
academy at age 20, He goes to the

cemetery in his full dress uniform to
pay his respects to the grandmother he's

never met.

In his early years on the force, Estacio
does his grandmother proud.

He rises quickly through the ranks. He
makes detective, special victims unit.

Outside of work, he has a family of his
own and builds a life on Long Island.

He had kids in school. He had a daughter
in college. You know, not different

from many other police officers.

But his suburban life has a dark side.

He's in a regular high -stakes card game
at a local cigar store.

That's where he makes a new friend,
Nicky Margielos.

Their partnership starts small, with
Estacio providing tips on potential

locations. But just as he rose quickly
at the NYPD, Estacio quickly becomes a

full member of Nicky's crew.

He had the opportunity to avail himself
to all the electronic.

investigative methods in the NYPD, being
wired up, cameras, trackers, all that

information he brought with him to the
burglary crew, which was invaluable.

We had nothing up our sleeve.

You know, he knew everything.

As the list of burglaries grows, the
case attracts attention from the feds,

including Assistant U .S. Attorney Chris
Cavarone.

Burglary is not a federal crime, but the
interstate transportation of stolen

property is.

So much stolen property, Caperone knows
they'll have to look beyond Long Island

to unload it. And there's no doubt Nicky
Margielos, Rafael Estacio, and the crew

have the means.

This crew is an extraordinarily
sophisticated, intelligent, careful,

crew.

I like to say it was like Ocean's
Eleven, just without Brad Pitt.

George Clooney and Matt Damon.

And just like that crew in the movies,
everyone has a specialized role.

Victor Arias, he was the second story
guy. He was the guy going up on the roof

and cutting the wires to the alarm
system.

Stasio, I would say, was the counter
surveillance guy. He's driving around,

keeping an eye out for law enforcement.

He was able to use his badge.

and talk to the cops and get over on the
cops why he was there and what was

going on. He was able to listen to the
radio, understand radio codes, able to

tip off the burglars that were on the
way.

Nicky Margiela was good at what he did.

He was someone that had the ability to
plan out these burglaries, to

get a crew, to recruit other members, to
carry them out.

So he is very similar to what you would
consider a chief executive officer.

And just like in the movies, every
aspect of every heist is well planned.

First task, reconnaissance.

The planning is key. We think they used
the Internet to see what businesses were

located where, what type of product
those businesses...

stored in their warehouses.

They did the physical surveillance of
the targets.

Could have been for weeks at a time.
They'd get information from regular

It might be a receptionist at a doctor's
office.

It might be, you know, them glancing,
looking in an office, seeing a pile of

money. And that would give them the idea
to commit the burglary.

Then they would do surveillance and
check the place out. They would look for

cameras. They'd look for security
guards.

They did their homework before they even
attempted it.

Second task, preparation, gathering the
right tools for the job.

They used pry bars.

They used crowbars.

They used hydraulic lifts, acetylene
torches, dog snares, cellular

telephone jamming device, pickaxes,
jackhammers.

Third task, neutralizing the target.

When they'd go do these burglaries, they
would cut telephone lines.

They would cut the alarm.

That security system has a cell phone in
it, so when the wires are cut, the cell

phone will call the central station or
call the police. They set up the cell

phone jammer, which stopped that call
from going out.

And then they would sit back and wait to
see if law enforcement appeared.

Final task, execution, where all the
planning pays off.

We put a hydraulic jack in a door jam
and used the hydraulic pressure to

the jam and open the door. Not many
burglars had that type of equipment.

And they also had all the hand carts and
everything to remove safes, safes

weighing hundreds of pounds they were
able to remove. They felt that they were

above the law. They felt like they were
not going to be caught.

And now they're ready for their biggest
score yet.

Next on American Green.

They took 45 ,000 pairs of high -end
sunglasses valued at in excess of $3

million. But the higher the stakes, the
higher the risk of a major mistake.

And I'm thinking we've got them.

Nikki Margiellos and Rafael Astacio have
burglaries down to a science.

Anything they could make money was an
ideal target. They sold sunglasses, they

sold cash, they sold cigarettes.

Whatever they can lay their hands on and
flip for extra money, they stole.

They caused a lot of pain.

They ransacked your business and take
your money, then they steal from you,

volley at your house, they GPS you to
your house.

It's got to be overwhelming.

It was very hard every single day, I
think about it. You know, you're angry,

probably more angry than anything else.

But to this crew, none of that matters.

In 2010, they are in their prime.

Dr. Steven Greenberg is such a renowned
plastic surgeon, he even has his own

radio show.

There are so many things that we can do
to help people look younger.

He is a surgeon to the stars, and anyone
else looking for a little pick -me -up.

Could be anywhere from a facelift, an
eyelid lift, to a tummy tuck, or breast

augmentation, or liposuction. It's
whatever that patient wants and needs,

into their own body and their own
schedule. Having done their homework,

burglary crew knows that Dr.

Greenberg's practice on Long Island is a
cash cow.

You know, they used to get inside
information.

Dr. Greenberg, I mean, they knew he had
money in the place.

But even they can't anticipate how much
money they'll find.

$1 .9 million in cash.

And with an NYPD detective on the team,
they're just getting started.

Mr. Stassi had access to federal law
enforcement databases and also public

databases, which allowed him to do
research.

on potential victims, he'd be able to
enter their information, find out where

they lived.

Estacio runs a check on Dr. Greenberg
and finds he lives on a leafy street in

upscale neighborhood less than two miles
from the office.

Just weeks after the crew steals nearly
$2 million in cash from the doctor's

office, they get a quarter million in
property from his home.

You're terribly violated.

And you know you're targeted.

It's not like a random burglary where
they're going down the neighborhood and

say, oh, we like this house. No, they
came for you.

Veteran Long Island reporter Greg Sergel
of WNBC -TV has covered Long Island law

enforcement for more than 30 years.

It was almost like a test of will there
between the ring of criminals and the

guys that are responsible for stopping
them. They weren't used to facing this

kind of sophistication. This group
employed counter -surveillance

They'd speed up while we were following
them. They'd stop.

They'd make sharp turns.

They were trying to make our tail.
Sometimes they did. We knew right away

our everyday techniques would be
ineffective against this crew.

So Lieutenant May asked Prosecutor Rick
Whalen to seek a warrant for something

normally unheard of in a burglary
investigation, tapping the suspect's

You have to go before a judge to get a
court order to go up on a wiretap. It's

another level above regular
investigation.

I don't know that another burglary ring
wiretap has been written in this county.

And John May, every day in my office, I
wouldn't get off my back for six months

until this thing was written.

He wouldn't stop. He wouldn't leave me
alone.

Not only must the wiretap pass muster
with the courts, it must also be

crafted to protect this crime ring in
the act.

I've written hundreds and hundreds of
wiretap applications in my time.

This was by far the most difficult
wiretap application.

That I've ever written. And it took me
six months to write it.

And there's no time to lose.

Because Margie Ellos and Nastassio are
feeling invincible.

The future's so bright, they've got to
wear shades.

Long Island -based Eye King manufactures
and distributes the kind of sunglasses

athletes and models wear.

Sunglasses that go for as much as $200 a
pair.

By the last weekend in April 2010, the
warehouse is fully stocked for the

season, and the crew is ready to make
its move.

It was the April 29th into April 30th of
2010.

Staffio's job at that particular
burglary scene was to provide counter

surveillance. He spent three and a half
hours driving around the location.

That was a big job. Trucks and
everything else, I think they had a big

truck. Victor Arias climbed up the roof
and moved all the security cameras and

pointed them up into the sky.

It was after that point that the other
individuals entered the location.

They have experience doing this. They
know how to do it.

They had carts inside the warehouse.
They loaded the carts up.

They loaded the truck.

They went back, they got more.

The crew is in the warehouse until early
the next morning.

But with Rafael Estacio patrolling
outside, no one is the wiser.

The total take?

45 ,000 pairs of sunglasses.

The estimated value?

Three million dollars.

There's just one thing.

You steal all these eyeglasses, what do
you...

What do you do with them?

Next, American Greed.

Be careful what you wish for. The Long
Island burglars have more inventory than

they know what to do with. And that's a
problem.

Their transportation of those stolen
sunglasses was a federal crime because

crossed the line.

By day, Rafael Astacio is a model cop
with more than 500 arrests in nearly 20

years on the job.

By night, he is the linchpin of a
prolific burglary crew.

He used what we know against us.

But by 2012, something has to give.

An NYPD internal investigation finds
Astacio is slipping up on his day job,

botching a sexual assault case.

allowing a predator to remain at large.

Meanwhile, the burglary crew has an
inventory problem.

They took 45 ,000 pairs of high -end
sunglasses valued at in excess of $3

million.

That's a tremendous score for this crew.

They saw that opportunity.

Unfortunately, the market, the illegal
market for selling those sunglasses was

not as valuable.

Unable to get the price he wants in New
York, Nicky Margielos shops the

sunglasses around online.

We began to see him on eBay.

And he has them driven to New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, and Florida. It is a

mistake.

Their transportation of those stolen
sunglasses was a federal crime because

crossed state lines.

And I'm thinking, we've got them.

For Nicky Martellos and Rafael Estacio,
the walls are closing in, and the walls

have ears.

They occur.

Right, but look at all the overlaps,
John.

Estacio, Arias, boom.

In the spring of 2012, John May and Rick
Whalen get court approval to begin

tapping nine phone lines.

The recordings are so sensitive they are
still sealed by the courts. For

investigators, the tale of the tapes is
a turning point.

We started to get relevant information,
them talking about doing jobs. Well, you

hear a lot about fishing, and I'm a
fisherman, so to them, fishing was going

burglaries. That earns the investigation
a name. Operation Crook, Line, and

Stinker.

But the wiretaps have a far more
important impact.

You could listen to them real time and
keep up with them instead of

We embedded ourselves in the
neighborhood. We'd never move.

Now the police were about to land a big
fish of their own.

The wiretaps revealed that the crew
plans to hit this home on a dead -end

in Lindenhurst.

On the night of June 3rd, detectives are
in position, including Lieutenant John

May, hiding in plain sight.

Sergeant Sweeney and Detective
Maranucci.

had the ball, which means they had the
eye on the half. They had the car

to the house.

They watched the car pull up.

They watched two gentlemen get out of
the car, go into the house.

They saw the last van, first floor,
second floor, back down to the first

come out to the car.

The car takes off, and police make their
move.

With that, the hammers of hell came out
in front of the crew, and they pulled

out Rafael Estacio.

Five years after he gave his first tips
to the burglary crew, New York City

Detective Rafael Estacio is under arrest
for driving the getaway car.

But he's ready with an alibi.

Without even asking, he blurted out,
They paid me. They paid me $200 to drive

them. I don't know what they were doing.

And, you know, I felt insulted.

And I said to them, keep that story.
That'll work for you.

With Estacio under arrest, Prosecutor
Rick Whalen moves fast to secure the

evidence. He gets a warrant to search a
storage locker that police have had

under surveillance for months.

This is where the crew stored their
various burglar's tools.

Investigators find the burglary crew's
vast arsenal of equipment, all neatly

arranged and ready for the next job.

Whalen shows American Greed some of what
they found.

They like to use the throw -out phones.
Here's a walkie -talkie. We have pry

bars. We have crowbars.

There were masks, gloves.

Hands were always covered, always
concerned about leaving their

have here one of the cell phone jammers.
I turn this on right now.

Your cell phones aren't going to work.

Police have the equipment, and they have
one of the major players.

But the burglary crew and its leader,
Nicky Margielos, are still at large.

American Greed returns.

Rafael Estacio faces a choice.

I was trying to elicit his cooperation.

I figured as a police officer, the worst
place you're going to end up is jail.

It's not a pretty place for a cop.

See more of the Berkeley Crew's giant
stash of tools at AmericanGreed .cnbc

.com.

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page.

We'll be right back.

New York City Detective Rafael Estacio
has questioned hundreds of suspects in

nearly 20 years on the job.

Now the tables are turned.

I said to him, you know, every
prosecutor in this case is going to want

your head up at the podium and say, we
got him.

I said, it's in your best interest to
cooperate.

But Estacio won't flip.

He was courteous. He referred to me as
lieutenant and said, you know, I'm going

to speak to my attorney.

The NYPD puts Astacio on desk duty, but
his refusal to cooperate leaves

investigators with a problem.

We needed to keep that arrest quiet.

Because we're up on phones, we're
listening. We've only at that point

off a few of the crew members.

So we need to stay up on these phones to
get the other crew members.

And for a time, it works.

We felt from conversations that we'd
been intercepting following his arrest

the targets of our investigation didn't
have the slightest idea we were

listening to them.

That is about to change.

We're 21 days into this.

wiretapping investigation.

These people are arrested.

We're trying to keep it quiet so that we
can go up on other phones or identify

and arrest the other members of the
crew.

But a New York City detective arrested
for burglary is not something that stays

quiet for long.

I came in and there on the front page of
the New York Daily News was my

investigation.

On June 26th, the word is out in a big
way.

Tabloid headlines blare that Rafael
Astacio is a dirtbag detective.

And that's not all.

I was shocked. Absolutely shocked.

The biggest secret of all is revealed.

That police have been bugging the
burglars' phones.

They read the news.

They hear from their friends. Hey, you
guys are targets. These targets, Margie

Ellison, they went underground.

With the trail suddenly cold,
authorities focus on building the case

have. There is plenty of evidence.

The crew has been unable to find a buyer
for the $3 million worth of sunglasses

they stole, so they divvy up the loot.

Rafael Estacio knows exactly what to do
with his share.

For years, he's played on the NYPD
baseball team.

Baseball players often wear sunglasses.

So we went and we found who was on his
team, and the FBI and the police

department and the IRS went out and
interviewed those folks.

And a number of them had remembered that
Mr. Astacio had a number of these high

-end Hobie Under Armour sunglasses at
different baseball games.

Meanwhile, Nicky Martellos and the rest
of the crew can't afford to just go out

of business.

Criminals are criminals, okay?

So it was only a matter of time they
were going to be back out there doing

they do best.

Knowing that the heat is on on Long
Island, the crew branches out to nearby

Westchester County.

But the FBI has eyes in the sky.

We were trying to surveil them going up
to Westchester.

And that was brutal.

Going over the bridge and traffic and
everything else, the FBI was able to

assist us in aerial surveillance with
that.

And that's not Nicky's only problem.

While Rafael Astacio is still refusing
to cooperate with authorities, he's out

of the burglary business as well.

And without his secret weapon, it's only
a matter of time before Nicky Margielos

hits a dead end.

Up next, a $10 million crime ring
exposed.

But Nicky Margielos won't go down
without a fight.

Mr. Margielos put himself above all
else.

In the fall of 2013, authorities are
finally ready to make their move on a

burglary crew that has been terrorizing
Long Islanders for years.

Unlike the Hollywood crew, these guys
don't get away with it.

The Ocean's Eleven guys, that's in the
movies. They didn't have the FBI, the

IRS, and then the Haskell County Police
Department investigating them.

Federal prosecutors unveil an indictment
of five suspects for interstate

transportation of stolen property.

They include Victor Arias, the second
story guy, New York City Police

Rafael Astacio, and ringleader Nikki
Margielos.

None would agree to be interviewed by
American Greed.

WNBC Long Island reporter Greg Circle
attends an unusual news conference.

There was a whole room filled with
burglars' tools and radios and GPS

and I remember going in there and
thinking, what is going on here?

These are professional burglars. Along
with the tools, prosecutors unveil state

burglary charges against Nicky
Margielos, plus four additional

They're said to have dubbed the
burglaries phishing.

and investigators say they were armed
with more than just everyday rods and

reels. There's organized crime out here,
and we see drug operations, but this

was one of the most unusual cases you'll
ever see out here.

Victor Arias pleads guilty to
transporting stolen property.

He is sentenced to four and a half years
in a prison that's three stories tall.

Rafael Astacio, now under federal
indictment, is fired from the NYPD.

He is just three days shy of 20 years on
the job and eligibility for an $80 ,000

a year pension.

What he did during this conspiracy was
disgraceful. He used law enforcement

databases. He used his badge to try to
get out of a burglary. He needed to be

held accountable for victimizing people
and using that position of trust.

In 2014, Nastasio pleads guilty to one
count of conspiracy to transport stolen

property and one count of filing a false
income tax return.

Facing as much as eight years in prison,
he asked the judge to go easy on him,

citing his career as a cop.

The work I produce spoke volumes for
myself and for my family, he writes.

I ask that you please be lenient with my
sentencing.

The judge is unmoved.

He sentences Astacio to six years in
prison to reflect the harm to the

and to send a message to police
officers.

Astacio sues the NYPD to get his pension
back.

But the case is dismissed.

He threw away a lifetime of security for
quick money.

Nicky Margielos pleads guilty to a
single count of transporting stolen

Mr. Margielos had, years before, faced
the same exact charges.

Margielos writes a letter to the court
blaming alcohol, drugs, gambling, and

2008 financial crisis.

My business failed no matter how hard I
worked, he writes.

Instead of doing the right thing, I
began to gamble, drink, and commit

I cracked under Precker.

But as a repeat offender, he is
sentenced to the maximum.

Ten years in prison.

He got what he deserved.

He had an opportunity the first time to
rehabilitate himself, and he chose not

to. So there's no sympathy for him.

I think everyone has a choice. I think
you have the choice to go and, like most

Americans and most hardworking Long
Islanders, get up and go to work and

honest living. I think he felt this was
easier.

Having brought down a crime ring he
pursued for 10 years, Lieutenant John

retires from the Nassau County Police
Department soon after Rafael Estacio's

arrest. It was a great way to go out.

Not in a rocking chair.

In all, five people plead guilty in the
federal stolen property case, and nine

plead guilty to state charges including
burglary and grand larceny. I guess we

don't like to lose.

I mean, imagine being a victim of a
residential burglary. Somebody goes into

your house, they take your stuff, your
personal stuff. I mean, that causes a

of pain.

We had to stop that.

Even now, business owner Mike Longo says
he will never be the same.

I guess you just look at everything more
as protected, you know. So

everything that you do, every time I
come into this building these days,

still looking over both shoulders.
You're making sure everything's safe

you decide to go into the building.

He has put bars on the windows and put
in a new security system.

But he longs for a time before a ring of
thieves stole his trust.

They didn't care about a single person.
They couldn't look at themselves in the

mirror ever and say, I'm a good person,
I'm a good father, I'm a good brother,

I'm a good whatever.

They were just bad people.