2 Kansas City Men Indicted in Burglary Conspiracy

Two men from Kansas City, MO were recently indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a $1 million conspiracy to steal more than 1,400 cell phones in dozens of commercial burglaries across five states.

The U.S. Attorney's Office says 29-year old Viktor Chernetskiy, a naturalized citizen from Ukraine, and 29-year old Bryan C. Kirkendoll II, were charged in a five-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in KCMO on Wednesday, June 26.

The indictment replaces a criminal complaint that was filed earlier in June. Chernetskiy remains in federal custody without bond, while Kirkendoll was released on bond.

The federal indictment alleges that Chernetskiy and Kirkendoll participated in a conspiracy to steal electronic devices, primarily cell phones, from stores in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, and Oklahoma, then transport them across state lines in order to sell them.

According to the indictment, Chernetskiy and Kirkendoll committed 48 burglaries from November 21, 2018 - June 14, 2019, in which they stole approximately 1,401 electronic devices with a total financial loss of approximately $1,008,742.

The indictment states in each instance, the stores were burglarized after hours and the co-conspirators wore hooded sweatshirts, caps, and gloves to conceal their identity and limit the trace evidence left behind.

The suspects allegedly pried the doors open with a large screwdriver or crowbar; in many instances, they broke the glass windows out of the doors, and then went through the opening. Once inside, they allegedly looked for phones that were not secured within a safe or other secure location, and loaded those phones into a plastic bin, trash bag, or other bag.

In some of those instances, they reportedly also cut retractable security cables from store demonstration phones and took those as well. There was at least one instance where it appeared that they tried (unsuccessfully) to pry open a safe.

In addition to the conspiracy, Chernetskiy and Kirkendoll are charged together in three counts of transporting stolen property across state lines and Chernetskiy is charged in a fourth count of transporting stolen property across state lines.