Michigan duo admit smash-and-grab at St. Louis County jewelry store

ST. LOUIS – A man from the Detroit, Michigan, area appeared in federal court on Tuesday and admitted stealing tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of watches from an Ellisville, Missouri, jewelry store, approximately six weeks after a co-defendant pleaded guilty to the same crime.

Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Missouri said Kordaryl Cross, 25, and Dajuan Marcellus, 34, planned to use a stolen vehicle to travel to Ellisville in order to steal several Rolex watches.

Marcellus said he purchased a pre-paid Visa gift card on Jan. 2, 2023, which Cross used eight days to buy sledgehammers at a store in Missouri.

Marcellus and Cross, along with two other men, stole a Dodge Ram truck in Brentwood and drove to Ellisville. Marcellus and one of the unidentified cohort broke into a jewelry store and used the sledgehammers to bust open the glass cases containing the Rolex watches. Meanwhile, Cross monitored the time during the robbery.

The group abandoned the truck in a nearby parking garage, and Marcellus and Cross took the watches to Illinois.

Cross pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property. Marcellus already pleaded guilty to the same charge on July 29.

Marcellus will be sentenced on October 29 and Cross on December 9. Both men face up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

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