A third-striker who sparked an international manhunt after skipping out on bond while awaiting trial for his role in a nearly $2 million, multicounty burglary ring that targeted dozens of homes in Orange and San Bernardino counties was sentenced Monday to 61 years to life in state prison.
Erick Daniel Soria, 33, became the fourth defendant to be convicted and sentenced for a rash of residential burglaries that began in Chino Hills in August 2019 before spreading to Fullerton, Anaheim Hills, Villa Park, Lake Forest, Yorba Linda, Buena Park and Irvine through early 2020.
The serial burglars, including Soria, stole designer watches, purses, jewelry, guns and cash. Two of the burglaries occurred when residents were inside the homes, prosecutors said.
A fifth and final suspect believed tied to the serial burglaries, Alvaro Ramos, remains a fugitive.
The investigation into the burglary crew began after Fullerton investigators looking into an increase in burglaries determined that the suspects appeared to have used the same Dodge Durango, law enforcement officials said at a 2020 news conference announcing the arrests.
After reaching out to other nearby departments, Fullerton investigators tied the same crew to at least 16 burglaries in Fullerton, 15 in Anaheim, six in Yorba Linda, three in Irvine, two in Chino Hills and two in Buena Park.
Prosecutors allege the men carried out the burglaries while wearing gloves, ski masks and hoodies. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer during a May 2020 news conference described them coming from other counties to “sneak through our backyards and break into our homes.”
Once they were identified, taking the members of the crew into custody proved difficult, law enforcement officials previously acknowledged.
Twice during their investigation, officers spotted the SUV they believed the serial burglars were using. But both times the occupants of the vehicle escaped after high-speed chases, which at one point reached 150 mph.
In May 2020, officers from a variety of police agencies carried out a tactical operation that ended with the burglary suspects, including Soria, taken into custody. Most of the members of the crew had served previous prison sentences. Two of them, including Soria, were still on parole at the time of their arrest for the string of burglaries.
With their arrest coming during the coronavirus pandemic, when jail populations were being thinned, Orange County prosecutors initially took them into custody on no-bail warrants. But in 2021, Orange County Superior Court Judge Larry Yellin, over the objection of prosecutors, set Soria’s bail at $750,000, according to an OC DA statement. Soria posted that bond — along with an additional $500,000 bond tied to a separate residential burglary case in Los Angeles County — and was released from local lockup.
Soria fled to Mexico, according to the DA’s office. It wasn’t until 2023 that he was captured by members of the U.S. Marshals Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force and returned to the United States to face trial for the burglary spree.
“Decriminalizing felonies and providing state prisoners and jail inmates off-ramp after off-ramp to get out of custody and back into our neighborhoods has put our communities at significant risk of being victimized by criminals who have been given the overwhelming message that the reward is far greater than the risk,” Spitzer said in a news release on Tuesday, May 5. “This case exemplifies the incredible work of the men and women of Orange County law enforcement, and the collaboration, along with our local and federal partners, to hold criminals accountable and ensuring actions have consequences …
“These crimes are not victimless crimes, and the victims in these cases can rest assured that we will go to the literal ends of the earth to ensure justice is served,” Spitzer added.
In April 2025, Soria accepted a plea deal and admitted to 26 felony counts of first-degree burglary and three felony counts of attempted first-degree burglary. This week, Soria received his 61-year-to-life prison sentence.
Several other members of the burglary crew have already been convicted.
Sergio Soto pleaded guilty in June 2025 to 22 felony counts of residential burglary, two felony counts of attempted first-degree burglary of an inhabited dwelling and one felony count of possession of a firearm by a felon. Soto, a second-striker previously convicted of assault with a deadly weapon, was sentenced to 18 years in state prison.
Eugene Yi pleaded guilty in May 2025 to two felony counts of first-degree burglary and was sentenced to five years and four months in state prison.
Jurandir Penate pleaded guilty to 36 felony counts of first-degree burglary, three felony counts of attempted first-degree burglary of an inhabited dwelling and two misdemeanor counts of receiving stolen property and was sentenced to 15 years in state prison.
Authorities are still searching for Ramos, the final alleged member of the burglary crew.
Ramos was also released on bond in 2020 after the prosecution’s request to hold him without bail was denied. An arrest warrant was issued after he failed to return to court. Ramos, who was on parole for residential burglary and evading police at the time of his previous arrest, faces 125 years in state prison if authorities locate him and he is convicted of the charges he is facing.