'Ringleader' of Kansas City, Missouri, business burglary gang sentenced Thursday to 17 years in prison

KSHB 41 reporter Isabella Ledonne reports on stories in Overland Park, Johnson County and topics about government accountability. Share your story idea with Isabella.

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The man called the ringleader of a burglary gang that targeted businesses around the River Market and Midtown neighborhoods in Kansas City sentenced Thursday to 17 years in prison.

KSHB 41 News covered the impact to businesses extensively, amplifying the voices of owners dealing with the aftermath of damage to their businesses left by the criminals.

In 2024 and 2025, dozens of businesses from River Market down to Midtown were hit by burglars.

According to a court document, there were at least six members of the ring who police believed were responsible for more than 100 non-residential burglaries in the Kansas City metro area.

Idonnas Gavrilys, sentenced Thursday, pleaded guilty to 14 counts of second-degree burglary and one count of property damage.

Andrae Harris

"We want the small business community to know that we take these things seriously, that we are collaborating with law enforcement and we are absolutely pursuing justice on behalf of the aggrieved," Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson said Thursday.

Plea negotiations continue with other defendants charged in the crimes.

For many businesses in the downtown area, the burglaries seemed constant, costing owners substantial amounts of money and heartbreak from seeing their hard work damaged by the crimes..

Anchor Island Coffee in Midtown is one of the dozens of businesses recovering from repeated burglaries that go bacl to 2023.

Will Shaw

"We're getting used to it," Mike Hastings, the owner, told KSHB 41 Reporter Isabella Ledonne on Thursday. "We are becoming desensitized to the crime and violence in the area."

Last year, burglars took the coffee shop's equipment and left broken windows.

"As a small business, we don't have that money just sitting around," Hastings said. "We also had to find that money just to stay open."

It's not just the Midtown neighborhood that was hit by the burglars

Crossroads Entertainment District and River Market businesses were also victims in the crime spree led by Gavrilys.

Gavrilys made an obscene gesture as he walked into the courtroom Thursday.

Andrae Harris

"This is the highest sentence I've ever seen for a property crime case," Gavrilys' attorney, Matthew Merryman, said. "It was taken seriously and handled correctly."

Since the crime spree started, the River Market added security cameras at nearly every intersection.

The Crossroads Entertainment District has worked to increase security patrols.

"Any narrative that the Crossroads area is unsafe or more unsafe than it was last year or two years ago, the data does not support that," Johnson said.

But some Midtown business owners still see work that needs to be done.

"We need to see consequences," Hastings said. "We saw some consequences [on Thursday], but I feel like this is a higher profile case that would see consequences. We need equal consequences for everyone, not just one person. Set the example of 'Hey, Kansas City done with this era."'

One co-defendant, Michael Hill, is scheduled to be sentenced on August 6.

Another co-defendant, Dante Draper, has a hearing on August 20 in Jackson County Court.

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