Three Highland Park men have been charged in an alleged scheme to defraud banks by stealing checks from United States Post Office docks and elsewhere, federal prosecutors announced today.
The indictment returned last week in downtown Los Angeles charges Antonio Hernandez, 20, Ivan Murillo-Hernandez, 20, and Alexis Garcia Martinez, 28, with one federal count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Want to get caught up on what's happening in SoCal every weekday afternoon? Click to follow The L.A. Local wherever you get podcasts.
Hernandez also is charged with one count each of bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, robbery of a post office, and mail theft. Murillo-Hernandez also is charged with one count of mail theft.
Hernandez and Murillo-Hernandez have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them and are scheduled to go to trial on July 8 in Los Angeles federal court. Martinez is in state custody on unrelated charges and is expected to be transferred over to federal custody in the coming weeks.
The total intended losses to the banks alleged in this scheme is at least $800,000, according to law enforcement estimates.
The indictment alleges that from November 2022 to last August, Hernandez, Murillo-Hernandez, and others stole mail from post office docks and other locations in the mail stream -- including by using threats of violence -- with the aim of stealing mail containing checks belonging to various victims.
Federal prosecutors allege mail thefts took place at a Highland Park apartment building as well as post offices in Studio City, Azusa, Upland, Anaheim, El Segundo and Beverly Hills. The defendants allegedly attempted to steal mail from a La Mirada post office but were unsuccessful, court papers show.
Martinez allegedly provided vehicles to Hernandez and others to travel to post offices to commit back dock thefts and advised them on how to commit such crimes without law enforcement detecting them.
The DOJ alleges Hernandez and Murillo-Hernandez used social media to solicit bank account holders to provide their debit card and account information by promising them a cut of any fraudulently obtained funds deposited into their accounts. To avoid bank fraud protections, the alleged co-conspirators requested bank accounts that had been open for a certain amount of time so they could access the stolen funds more quickly, according to the indictment.
Hernandez and Murillo-Hernandez also sold and attempted to sell stolen checks to others who fraudulently cashed them, the indictment states.
The defendants allegedly recruited at least three people under the age of 18 in the scheme, the DOJ said.
In April 2023, after stealing mail from an Anaheim post office, Hernandez, Murillo-Hernandez and three minors led police on a high-speed chase on the 57 and 60 freeways and dumped mail out of a gray Toyota Camry as they fled, according to the indictment.
One of the minors involved in the chase, who had evaded law enforcement, later posted a video on Instagram taken from inside the Camry depicting a pursuing police car as seen in the front passenger side rear view mirror for followers and potential stolen check customers to ''like,'' prosecutors allege.
If convicted, the defendants would face up to 30 years in federal prison for the bank fraud conspiracy charge. Hernandez also would face up to 30 years in federal prison for the bank fraud count, up to 10 years in federal prison for the post office robbery count, and a two-year mandatory consecutive prison sentence for the aggravated identity theft count.
Hernandez and Murillo- Hernandez would face up to five years in federal prison for the mail theft count, according to the DOJ.
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok
