Cross‑Country Cash Caper: Two Young Men Sentenced

A pair of men in their twenties were sentenced after a month‑long spree that saw them target ATMs across five states. The offenders, both from Texas, used a clever trick: they would sabotage an ATM, then wait for a repair worker to come and open the machine. Once inside, they would intimidate or physically assault the technician and take the exposed cash cassettes. The crimes began in late December when they glued a Bank of America machine shut in Vancouver. While the device was being fixed, they walked out with almost $400, 000. Photos recovered from their phones showed them posing with piles of money shortly after the thefts. Their violence escalated as the run went on. In one incident they dragged a technician to his knees and threatened him with a screwdriver; in another, they punched the worker repeatedly. They always wore gloves, masks and hoodies to hide their faces and used cars with fake or stolen plates.After starting in Washington, they moved on to Arizona, Texas and Oregon. In June, they robbed machines in Tigard and Hillsboro, assaulting the people making withdrawals. The next day they hit an ATM in Portland, Maine, where a technician was nearly knocked unconscious after a brutal attack. They were finally stopped in Jackson, Mississippi, where police seized guns and the stolen cash from their vehicle. Both men pleaded guilty to four bank robbery charges and two attempted robbery counts. Their sentences were long: one received nine years, the other ten. A defense lawyer argued that one of the men grew up in a hotel with his mother and saw ATMs as a way to support his family. He asked for a lighter sentence of just over seven years, but the judge imposed the full term.