TAMPA, Fla. – Two people are heading to federal prison for their roles in a March 2024 robbery that stripped a visiting jewelry vendor of $1.3 million in merchandise and $9,000 in cash outside a Tampa hotel.
U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle sentenced 39-year-old Gina Parra-Martinez to seven years and three months in federal prison, while 29-year-old Diego Ramirez-Aldana received a sentence of five years and one month. Both individuals had previously pleaded guilty, according to an announcement by U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe.
The robbery happened after the victim traveled to Tampa to sell her jewelry at an exhibition near the University of South Florida campus. Court records and sentencing testimony show that after the exhibition wrapped up for the night, the vendor and her sister took a rideshare back to their hotel.
As soon as they arrived, surveillance video captured a vehicle pulling up. Five masked individuals jumped out, rushed the women, pushed them, and snatched their bags before fleeing.
Investigators later linked four vehicles and numerous cellphones to the scene and the surrounding area. Ramirez-Aldana’s phone records placed him near the exhibition hours before the heist took place. Police also found loose gems on the floorboard of one of the getaway cars, which the victim later identified as hers. A fingerprint found on a fake vehicle registration inside that same car matched Ramirez-Aldana.
Parra-Martinez was tied to the crime through phone records placing her at the exhibition the day before the robbery, alongside surveillance footage showing a woman matching her description walking through the event in a baseball cap. Law enforcement also found her fingerprint on a bag containing bleach, wigs, and a ski mask inside another vehicle used in the crime.
Following the robbery, Parra-Martinez fled to New York. In April 2024, just hours before federal agents executed a search warrant at her location, she boarded a flight to California. During the flight, she changed her clothes, left her luggage behind at the California baggage claim, and managed to evade law enforcement for several months before her eventual arrest.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Tampa Police Department handled the investigation, and Assistant United States Attorney Samantha Newman prosecuted the case.
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