CryptocurrencyA Florida man was sentenced to 47 years in prison on Sept. 11 for his involvement in a scheme across multiple states of the country regarding a series of home invasion robberies targeting cryptocurrency, making him one of 12 to be sentenced from Sept. 5 to Sept. 12. A Florida man was sentenced to 47 years in prison on Sept. 11 for his involvement in a scheme across multiple states of the country regarding a series of home invasion robberies targeting cryptocurrency, making him one of 12 to be sentenced from Sept. 5 to Sept. 12.
(KWTX) – A Florida man and his “Houston-based crew” were among a dozen people was sentenced to prison for their involvement in a series of multi-state home invasions targeting cryptocurrency and other valuable property, federal prosecutors said.
Remy Ra St Felix, 25, of West Palm Beach, Florida, and his co-conspirators, stole over $3.5 million from victims through SIM swapping and home invasions in which victims were held at gunpoint, assaulted and bound with plastic cable ties. He was convicted on June 25 in Greensboro, North Carolina, after a six-day trial and was ordered to pay $524,153.39 as well as five years of supervised release on top of his 47-year-long sentencing.
According to court documents and evidence presented during the trial, the initial scheme first took place in late 2020.
The first incident took place after co-conspirator Jarod Gabriel Seemungal, 23, of West Palm Beach, Florida, and foreign co-conspirators stole cryptocurrency from victims by gaining control of their phone numbers through SIM swapping.
In 2022, St Felix was recruited alongside others by Seemungal to participate in the home invasion scheme. St Felix would later become the leader of the home invasion group, prosecutors said.
In Sept. 2022, St Felix and others committed several violent home invasions in Delray Beach, Florida, and Homestead, Florida. During the Delray Beach invasion victims were held at gunpoint within their home, while at Homestead a man was abducted, held hostage and beaten before police found him 120 miles away from his home.
Later that same year, St Felix and his crew began to target a man in Little Elm, Texas, making multiple trips to attempt the robbery.
In Dec. 2022, Seemungal and the Houston-based crew consisting of Houston residents Deangelo Lee Contreras, 21, Tristian Rene Gamez, 21, Victor Gonzalez, 27, Jesus Salazar, 24, Christian Valdez, 21, and Jesus Gerardo Valdez, 27, committed the invasion.
During the Little Elm home invasion, the victim and his family were held at gunpoint for three hours. The man and his mother were tortured before the crew stole approximately $150,000 in cash, two Rolex watches and a valuable necklace and pendant.
The next reported home invasion occurred in April of 2023 when St Felix and Elmer Ruben Castro, 23, of West Palm Beach invaded a Durham, North Carolina, home.
According to court documents, St Felix’s co-conspirators obtained access to the home’s owners’ email account and surveyed the home for multiple days prior to the invasion. During the invasion the owners were held at gunpoint and restrained by plastic cable ties after the defendants forced the male victim to provide them access to his computer and his cryptocurrency exchange account. From this access Seemungal was able to steal an estimated $150,000.00 worth of cryptocurrency.
St Felix’s crime spree would come to an end in July of 2023 when he was arrested in Long Island, New York, before he was able to carry out a home invasion plot on a family of five. During the time of his arrest, St Felix was in possession of two firearms and plastic cable ties.
During the conspiracy’s run time, it is believed that conspirators communicated through an encrypted messaging app to plan out their crimes. In these conversations conspirators would identify their targets and how to gain access to their homes, what tools they would need, any technical aspects of cryptocurrency and observed patterns of their targets, as well as plan other home invasions. It is also believed that funding of the conspiracy was financed through co-conspirators Haisel Daily, 22, of West Palm Beach and Ruben Matias Nicolopulos Silva, 22, of Lake Worth, Florida, who would rent vehicles, book hotel rooms and provide the group firearms.
Seemungal was sentenced on Sept. 12 to 20 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release as well as pay approximately $4,038,479.39 after pleading guilty on Dec. 19, 2023, for his role in the scheme.
Many of St Felix’s and Seemungal’s co-conspirators have plead guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping, with their sentencing as follows:
Jose Alfredo Avila, 27, of West Palm Beach was sentenced on Sept. 11 to 20 years in prison, four years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $365,100.00Contreras was sentenced on Sept. 5 to 15 years in prison, five years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $355,800.00Daily was sentenced on Sept. 5 to 25 years in prison, four years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $524,153.39Gonzalez was sentenced on Sept. 6 to 12 years in prison, three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $355,800.00Nathan Noel Quintana, 24, of Royal Palm Beach, Florida, was sentenced on Sept. 6 to 16 years in prison, four years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $365,100.00Silva was sentenced on Sept. 5 to 12 years in prison, five years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $524,153.39Cristian Valdez was sentenced on Sept. 6 to 12 years in prison, four years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $355,800.00Jesus Valdez was sentenced on Sept. 6 to 12 years in prison, four years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $355,800.00Jesus Manuel Santiago, III, 23, of West Palm Beach is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 1
Castro pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping and kidnapping on Feb. 6, and is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 1.
Salazar and Gamez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to interfere with commerce through robbery on May 29 and 30. Salazar was sentenced on Sept. 5 to five years in prison followed by four years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $355,800.00, while Gamaz was sentenced on Sept. 11 to eight years in prison, three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $355,800.00.
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