A Texas guy was sentenced to 40 a long time in prison for his leadership purpose in an armed household invasion theft crew that traveled the United States targeting family members of South Asian and East Asian descent.
Juan Olaya, 41, of Houston, Texas, was convicted by a federal jury of one particular count of racketeering conspiracy, 4 counts of assault with a hazardous weapon in aid of racketeering, and 4 counts of brandishing a firearm through and in relation to a criminal offense of violence on March 9, 2020. In accordance to proof offered at demo, Olaya acted as the road boss for an business that fully commited a string of armed house invasions in Michigan, Ga, New York, New Jersey, and Texas from August as a result of December of 2014. Olaya recruited other crew customers and assigned roles to those users. Olaya and crew customers then traveled to particular locations, conducted surveillance, and executed the robberies.
“The Criminal Division is dedicated to guarding the American general public from violent criminals, significantly when all those criminals concentrate on folks based on their ethnicity or race,” mentioned Performing Assistant Lawyer Basic Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Department’s Felony Division. “We hope that this prosecution, demo conviction, and sentence will provide as a deterrent to other individuals who could consider about partaking in identical violent carry out.”
“Juan Olaya and his theft crews dedicated a host of violent crimes that terrorized harmless victims throughout the United States,” mentioned Particular Agent in Demand Timothy Waters of the FBI’s Detroit Subject Place of work. “His crimes are created extra disturbing for the reason that the victims ended up chosen based on their ethnicity or race. The FBI will go on to work with our federal, condition, and neighborhood partners to look into and keep accountable predators like Olaya who threaten the protection of our communities.”
The organizer of the crew, Chaka Castro, ran the company from 2011 by way of 2014. Castro was convicted by a federal jury on June 4, 2019, and was sentenced to 37 decades in jail on Oct. 28, 2019. Castro generated lists of robbery targets in various states all over the county, particularly households whose last names had been widespread to certain ethnicities and assigned crews to carry out armed robberies within the families’ residences.
The crew utilized a certain modus operandi in each and every of the robberies. Users most popular to rob households even though the families had been present so they could use their victims to stage out beneficial merchandise. Members disguised their overall look with garments and bandanas so that victims would have problems identifying them. They brazenly carried and brandished firearms to get control of the victims and then right away corralled the victims, together with small children, into one particular locale in the house. At minimum one particular crew member then restrained the victims applying duct tape and threats of violence, as one or additional some others ransacked the dwelling in search of funds, jewelry, and electronics. The crew organized their trips to include multiple home invasion robberies over a sequence of times.
The FBI’s Ann Arbor Business investigated the situation with the aid of federal businesses like U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Stability Investigations and U.S. Mystery Assistance, and local regulation enforcement agencies in Michigan, such as Washtenaw County Sherriff’s Place of work, Ann Arbor Police Section and Canton Police Department community regulation enforcement organizations in Ohio, like Beachwood Police Division nearby law enforcement agencies in Ga, such as the Cobb County District Attorney’s Workplace, Cobb County Police Office, Gwinnett County Law enforcement Office, Duluth Police Office and Milton Law enforcement Department local legislation enforcement companies in New York, together with Nassau County Police Division the Tennessee Freeway Patrol and area legislation enforcement companies in Texas which includes Allen Police Division, Coppell Law enforcement Division, Flower Mound Law enforcement Department, Carrollton Law enforcement Division, Lewisville Law enforcement Department and Southlake Law enforcement Section.
Demo Lawyers Conor Mulroe and Bethany Lipman of the Criminal Division’s Organized Criminal offense and Gang Segment prosecuted the circumstance.