SANTA ANA, California
Two Los Angeles County men were charged Tuesday in a federal criminal complaint alleging they committed more than a dozen armed robberies of massage parlors in Los Angeles and Orange counties, officials stated.
Andy Cuellar, 28, of Hawthorne, and Arturo Morales, 27, of Downey, were arrested Friday.
The defendants are charged with interference with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act) and using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence.
Both are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, on the evening of February 16, Cuellar drove the getaway vehicle – a black Jeep Grand Cherokee – with Morales as the passenger to multiple massage parlors before robbing one such business in Torrance.
After the robbery, Cuellar and Morales allegedly were located less than two miles away at a gas station, standing at the back of the Jeep and going through items taken in the robbery, throwing some of them in the trash.
Once law enforcement arrived on the scene, the defendants allegedly fled on foot and discarded items they had stolen.
At the time of his arrest, Morales was found to have approximately $4,000 in cash on his person while Cuellar carried $400 and was found to have the same type of clothing – including a blue Los Angeles Dodgers baseball cap – identified in previous robberies of massage parlors, the affidavit alleges.
After the defendants were arrested, law enforcement searched the Jeep, in which they found a .38-caliber firearm that had been reported stolen in 2018, according to the affidavit.
Law enforcement believes that Cuellar and Morales are responsible for at least 12 additional armed robberies, including the alleged robberies of massage parlors from January 12 to January 29 in Santa Ana, Reseda, Venice, Orange, Bellflower, and Redondo Beach.
If convicted of all the charges, Cuellar and Morales face up to life in federal prison.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin J. Butler and Jena A. MacCabe of the Violent and Organized Crime Section are prosecuting this case.