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.
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.
