Taliban Glizzy gets 18 years: Rapper-turned-ringleader led multi-state jewel heist crew

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

By the time the feds caught up with Trevor Jonathan Wright, it wasn’t because they were fans of his rap music. In federal court, he wasn’t “Taliban Glizzy” the rapper. He was the architect of a violent, multi-state robbery crew that specialized in smashing South Asian jewelry stores and disappearing with millions in high-purity gold.

On Tuesday, 34-year-old Wright, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced over 18 years in federal prison for leading a spree of armed robberies up and down the East Coast. He had pleaded guilty on September 16, 2025, to Hobbs Act robbery conspiracy, brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, and unlawful possession of a firearm. The plea tied him directly to three major heists in 2022 that alone netted nearly $4 million.

Jewelry heists in New Jersey and Florida

The biggest score came June 10, 2022, when Wright’s crew hit Virani Jewelers in Iselin, New Jersey, making off with roughly $1.2 million in gold. Four months later, on October 25, they stormed Paradise Jewelry in Paterson, New Jersey, stealing another $1.93 million. The spree continued south on December 6, with a robbery at Kishek Jewelers in Jacksonville, Florida, worth about $700,000.

Surveillance screen shot from the October 25, 2022, of a co-defendant during the armed robbery of Paradise Jewelry in Paterson, New Jersey, from which the crew netted $1.93 million in gold jewelry.

Wright also admitted to possessing a machine gun in Miami on May 27, 2021. An early warning sign of where things were headed.

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According to court records, the operation ran for roughly 18 months, from January 2022 through August 2023, and involved at least 15 people. This wasn’t impulsive stick-ups. The crew did their homework, targeting South Asian jewelry stores known for carrying heavy, high-purity gold. Vehicles were rented, stolen, or fitted with stolen license plates. One car used in the crimes was taken in an armed carjacking.

Before each job, the crew cased the location. When it was time to move, they came in fast, smashing doors and windows with sledgehammers, flooding the store with force, and terrorizing employees into compliance. At least one gun was present at every robbery.

The stolen jewelry didn’t stay jewelry for long. Some of it was fenced in Miami. The rest was melted down into gold bars and sold for cash, a classic laundering move that’s become standard in high-end jewel heists.

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Arrested in front of the club

Wright’s run ended on December 12, 2022. Acting on a warrant out of the Southern District of Florida, agents arrested him as he and his entourage exited the St. Yves nightclub, climbing into a Cadillac Escalade. Inside, police found more than $17,300 in cash. Money investigators later tied back to the Jacksonville robbery.

For Wright, the sentence closes the book on a crew that mixed street robbery tactics with organized crime discipline. For the jewelers who were targeted, it’s a rare moment of accountability in a crime wave that has left many businesses shattered. Literally and financially.