On December 21, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York announced that Alexis Laguerra, Raymond Soto Jr., and Raymond Soto Sr. had been charged with bank larceny following the theft of $510,000 from a Garda armored car in Valley Stream on November 2.
Laguerra, 30, of Brooklyn, was an employee of Garda at the time of the incident.
He was arrested on a criminal complaint sometime between December 17-21.
The complaint
According to the complaint, Laguerra and his partner were working the overnight shift on Thursday, November 1, 2018. Laguerra was the driver and his partner was the messenger. Their job was to empty ATM machines at bank branches and refill them with new money.
Laguerra had switched to the overnight shift several months earlier.
One of the stops along their route was the HSBC Bank branch at 260 West Sunrise Highway in Valley Stream. Laguerra and his partner arrived at the bank at around 2:22 a.m., exited the armored car, and entered the bank.
The armored car was stolen while they were inside the bank. The thieves made off with three bags of cash each containing $170,000.
According to the complaint, Laguerra was in contact with Soto Jr. throughout the night of the theft. For example, at 9:52 p.m., Laguerra texted him the address of the bank, and that he would be there around 2-3 a.m.
Soto Jr. allegedly instructed Laguerra to delete the text messages, destroy the SIM card and phone, and discard both items. Laguerra deleted the text messages and removed the SIM card but kept the phone. Investigators were able to retrieve the text messages when they searched the phone.
Soto Sr. allegedly dropped off his son near the bank shortly before the armored car was stolen.
Soto Jr. was spotted carrying a large duffel bag on his way back to the getaway car.
Authorities found an undisclosed quantity of cash when the searched the Sotos’ residence.
The charges
The bank larceny charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Laguerra and Soto Jr. were also charged with obstruction of justice for conspiring to destroy text messages relating to the theft.
The conspiracy to obstruct justice charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
All three men have pled not guilty to all charges.