LOS ANGELES – Two armored truck drivers for Loomis were arrested Thursday on federal charges related to a scheme in which they stole more than $1 million, part of a shipment that was being transported for Bank of America, the U.S. Justice Department announced.
Cesar Yanez, 37, of Fontana, and Aldo Esquivel Vega, 28, of Pomona, were arrested Thursday morning without incident by special agents with the FBI and officers with the Los Angeles Police Department, officials said.
In relation to search warrants executed this morning, agents found approximately $85,000 in cash at the home of Yanez, officials said.
A third person involved in the scheme, Jovita Medina Guzman, 39, of San Bernardino, was also arrested for helping her co-defendants hide and disperse the stolen funds and for being an accessory after the fact, according to authorities.
All three defendants are expected to be arraigned on a four-count indictment in U.S. District Court, officials said.
The indictment, which was returned by a federal grand jury on November 7 and unsealed Thursday morning, alleges the following:
Yanez and Vega, while employed by Loomis on June 27, were transporting a multi-million dollar shipment of cash for Bank of America when they stopped in a parking lot on West Adams Boulevard.
Vega electronically opened the rear doors of the armored car, which allowed Yanez to access the cash storage area of the vehicle.
Yanez removed $1,086,000 in cash from the armored car and placed it into a trash can that had been left in the parking by an as-yet-unidentified person, who later picked up the trash can and recovered the stolen money.
Later, Guzman allegedly delivered some of the stolen money to Vega.
Yanez and Vega are each charged with conspiracy to commit bank larceny and bank larceny. Additionally, Yanez and Guzman are charged with Possession of Bank Larceny Proceeds, and Guzman is charged as an accessory after the fact to hinder and prevent her co-defendants’ apprehension, trial, and punishment.
Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in court.
If they are convicted of the offenses alleged in the indictment, Yanez would face a statutory maximum sentence of 25 years in federal prison; Vega would face up to 15 years; and Guzman could be sentenced to as much as 15 years in custody, according to officials.