The central figure behind what prosecutors called a roving network of robbers admitted to leading the scheme to steal cellphones in downtown Minneapolis and Dinkytown, drain their financial apps of money totaling more than $275,000 and then ship the phones overseas for sale.
Guilty plea from 'iPhone Man,' key figure in prolific Minneapolis smartphone theft ring
Prosecutors say the sometimes violent robbers stole phones from dozens of people near bars, siphoning their financial apps of money totaling more than $275,000.
September 11, 2023 at 9:00PM
Zhongshuang Su, aka Brandon Su, 33, of Minneapolis agreed to plead guilty to four amended felony counts of stolen property in connection with the operation that lasted roughly a year until charges against Su and his band of thieves were filed last September.
The plea agreement between the Hennepin County Attorney's Office and the defense calls for a 13-month sentence that would be set aside for three years and dismissal of the felony racketeering charges as long as he stays out of legal trouble. The prosecution also reserves the right to ask for Su to serve up to a year in the workhouse.
Su, a Chinese citizen who arrived here on a student visa and attended Metro State University, remains free on bail ahead of sentencing by Judge Peter Cahill on Nov. 9.
Su is accused of being the man known to others in the scheme as the "iPhone Man," who bought the stolen phones and sent them to foreign buyers. In total, prosecutors believe Su shipped more than 1,100 phones to addresses in Hong Kong. Prosecutors put the value of those phones at more than $800,000.
The charges against Su and his 11 co-defendants followed a joint investigation by the Minneapolis Police Department and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which looked into 65 cases. The defendants worked the streets often targeting intoxicated people as they left bars at closing time, the charges read.
One defendant questioned by police said a group of roughly 15 people from St. Paul had been coming to the downtown Minneapolis bar district for the past three to four years to steal people's cellphones, the charges continued.
In some instances, the defendants took phones by "trickery and violence" that left people with serious injuries, the charging document read. At other times, the defendants approached people in a friendly manner and asked for their phones on the pretext of adding themselves to a social media platform. The defendants made sure the victims unlocked their phone before handing it to accomplices, who would transfer money from the victims' accounts to the thieves' accounts using mobile payment services such as Venmo, Zelle and Coinbase.
The amount of money taken from 40 or more victims' apps totaled $277,000, according to the charges.
In July, one of the thieves, Jamarcus R. Tucker, 22, of St. Paul received a nearly nine-year term for his role in the violent robbery of a patron outside a Minneapolis bar last summer.
Police said a group of six to eight strangers approached 25-year-old Jack Nadeau and his friend outside the Gay 90s nightclub. After Nadeau handed 19-year-old Kevron Detrell Williams Gray his phone, Gray slipped it to someone else in the group. When Nadeau asked for it back, Gray said he didn't have it, according to charges and other court filings.
Surveillance video showed the two men arguing, and then another stepped in, pushed Nadeau and punched him, according to the charges. Nadeau fell unconscious to the sidewalk.
Nadeau's cellphone apps were used in 20 fraudulent transactions totaling $1,760, including to purchase Nike shoes on Amazon, which were shipped to Gray's address, according to the charges.
Gray, of St. Paul, was sentenced in October to a term of 9 ¾ years after pleading guilty to first-degree aggravated robbery for his role in the crime.
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