SAN FRANCISCO – A 44-year-old man was found guilty of robbery Tuesday in what prosecutors described as the largest jewelry store heist in city history.
After a six-week trial, a jury convicted Troy Smith on four counts of robbery, four counts of false imprisonment, two counts of commercial burglary and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery, according to District Attorney Kamala Harris' office.
Smith, also known as Devin Smith, faces 35 years to life in prison at his sentencing, which has not yet been scheduled.
Prosecutors accused Smith and two accomplices – Dino Smith and George Turner – of stealing an estimated $4.75 million worth of antique jewelry from Lang Antique and Estate Jewelry in downtown San Francisco in April 2003.
The suspects entered the jewelry store by knocking a hole through the wall of a vacant restaurant next door, prosecutors said. They waited for store employees to arrive, then forced them to open the store's safe and retrieve jewelry at gunpoint. The three suspects then tied up the employees and fled with the jewelry stuffed in plastic garbage bags.
Dino Smith, Troy Smith's brother, was convicted in June 2005 and sentenced to 23 years in state prison. Turner was sentenced to 13 years in prison after pleading guilty in August 2005.