Former Jefferson City business owner pleads guilty in burglary scheme

A former Jefferson City business owner pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to his role in a scheme to burglarize residences in Columbia and sell the stolen items on eBay.

Yevhen Olejovich Drobovych, 27, pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud contained in a July 20, 2016, federal indictment. Drobovych was the owner of Jefferson City Computer Services.

Drobovych was connected to a large number of burglaries in Columbia, primarily targeting college housing and electronic equipment. Several individuals identified during the investigation burglarized residences and forwarded the stolen items to Drobovych. By pleading guilty, Drobovych admitted he had posted the stolen items for sale on eBay and mailed them to buyers via the U.S. Postal Service or other interstate carrier.

An example cited in the plea agreement involves a burglary that occurred Nov. 22, 2014, wherein several thousand dollars' worth of camera equipment and Apple MacBooks were stolen. The next day, Drobovych sold some of the stolen items on eBay - three cameras, lenses and other equipment - to a buyer in Kansas City, for $6,800. The buyer found the burglary victim's information on the cameras and, making contact with the victim, learned the camera equipment had been stolen.

The buyer told investigators he had made previous purchases from Drobovych on eBay, and Drobovych had notified him by text message about the camera equipment for sale. Drobovych told the Kansas City buyer he had purchased the equipment from a person who came into his store.

In a separate but related case, Henry Anthony Williams, also known as "Foolish," 27, of Jefferson City, pleaded guilty March 22 to his role in the scheme. Williams also pleaded guilty to possessing stolen firearms.

Williams admitted he had sold stolen equipment to Drobovych, who sold the items on eBay. Williams admitted he had committed at least one of the three residential burglaries on Nov. 17, 2015, among residences on Commercial Drive in Columbia.

Williams also admitted he possessed firearms that had been stolen during the burglary of a Columbia residence. Moberly police officers received a report from a local gun store Sept. 17, 2014, that someone was trying to sell one of the stolen firearms - a customized Remington rifle - to the store's owner. The person who tried to sell the rifle told officers he had purchased it from another man, identified as "LJ," who in turn said he purchased it from Williams. LJ told officers Williams had other firearms for sale.

On Sept. 24, 2014, LJ arranged to meet Williams in the Hooters parking lot in Columbia to purchase another firearm. In a controlled undercover transaction, LJ was provided $350 and purchased a Marlin .22-caliber rifle and a Western Field 12-gauge shotgun from Williams. The Marlin rifle was among the firearms stolen in the Columbia burglary.

Under federal statutes, Drobovych is subject to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after a pre-sentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.