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Diamond District Heist Plotted Via Text Messages, Feds Say

By  Murray Weiss and Janon Fisher | November 18, 2014 6:13pm 

 Feds say the man behind the Diamond District heist on Veteran's Day plotted the crime through texts and phone calls.
Suspect arrainged in Diamond District heist
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MANHATTAN FEDERAL COURT — The man charged with planning the Veteran's Day Diamond District heist set up the robbery through text messages on a "secret phone" with his co-conspirators and continued texting throughout the crime, prosecutors said.

Rondu Frisby, 37, an associate of the store's owner, used his friend's girlfriend as a ruse for being in the shop just before the crime went down, claiming he had to help his buddy pick out gems for the woman, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday.

Frisby, who goes by the nickname "Reef," dropped by shortly before 2:20 p.m., just before the robber stopped by the eighth-floor office of Watch Standard at 23 W. 47th St, Manhattan federal prosecutors claim.

Frisby opened the security door for the man, who was carrying a black bag and wearing a suit, overcoat and hat, when he rang the doorbell.

The man, who police believe to be Leon Fenner, 58, claimed to be a process server as he took out two large yellow envelopes and put them on the office desk, Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Agency Agent Howard Stern swore in an affidavit.

As soon as the shop's owner was identified, the robber took out a black semiautomatic gun, pointed it at the owner and demanded that all the store's jewelry be handed over, the agent said.

As this was happening, another co-conspirator, sporting a red baseball cap and wearing a black sweatshirt, stood watch outside the eighth-floor shop door, Stern said.

A relative of Watch Standard's owner arrived with three other men, interrupting the heist and prompting the gunman to strike the relative with the gun, the agent said.

The two bandits, holding 20 watches and other gold jewelry with an estimated value of more than $600,000, punched the elevator button and rode down to the ground floor as police in riot gear and dogs arrived, locking down the entire Diamond District block between Fifth and Sixth avenues, prosecutors said.

Data from Frisby's "secret cellphone" number, provided by the shop's owner, showed 25 calls and texts — some just before and after the robbery — between Jenner and Frisby, federal investigators said. Video surveillance collected by investigators shows the two walking within 20 feet of each other before the crime.

Frisby, who pleaded not guilty to the crime, was held without bail after his arraignment Tuesday afternoon, his lawyer Peter Frankel said.

Additional reporting by Eddie Small.