Kansas City man convicted in a $1 million, multi-state cell phone burglary scheme
A Kansas City man has been convicted in federal court of helping to steal more than $1 million worth of cell phones over several months across multiple states, court records show.
After three hours of deliberations, a jury on Wednesday found 31-year-old Bryan C. Kirkendoll II, also known as “B Boy” or “Blockboy,” guilty of three counts of transporting stolen property across state lines, two counts of witness tampering, and one count each of participating in a conspiracy and transmitting threats in interstate commerce, according to a news release from the United States Attorney’s office for the Western District of Missouri.
Kirkendoll’s co-defendant, Viktor Chernetskiy, pleaded guilty last June to his role in the conspiracy and to one count of transporting stolen property across state lines, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. His sentencing is scheduled for June 3.
According to court records, Kirkendoll and Chernetskiy, also 31, committed 48 burglaries between November 2018 and June 2019 across Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois and Oklahoma. In total, they stole 1,401 electronic devices. Most were cell phones.
The financial loss of the burglaries added up to $1,008,742, records show. They planned to sell the phones.
All of the burglaries were carried out after the stores had closed, according to the U.S Attorney’s Office. The men wore hoodies, caps and gloves and used screwdrivers and crowbars to pry doors open. Often, they busted through glass doors to climb into the businesses before stealing any phones they could find.
Ahead of his trial, and while out on bond, Kirkendoll intimidated and threatened a victim scheduled to testify as a witness against him in court, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Kirkendoll’s bond was then revoked, and he was again arrested in February 2020.
He faces up to five years without parole for the conspiracy, up to 10 years without parole for each of the three counts of transporting stolen property, up to 23 years without parole for witness tampering and up to five years without parole for transmitting threats, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
His sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled.
Missouri State Highway Patrol and the FBI conducted the initial investigation.
