A money-laundering scheme connected to an ATM robbery in California led to the convictions this week in Kendall County of four defendants, including a former Texas corrections officer, officials said.
The investigation began Feb. 3, 2024, when Department of Public Safety Trooper Jarrett Mieure stopped a vehicle in the 38000 block of Interstate 10 West, according to reports.
The auto, with occupants identified in court records as Tahj Luchin, Montoi Weatherspoon, Jada Dancer and Jamyra Smith, had a backpack on the back seat with about $80,000 in cash.
All four were later charged with money laundering and engaging in organized criminal activity. Luchin was also charged with theft of property $30,000-$150,000 and possession of marijuana.
Smith, employed as a corrections officer for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice at the time, was also charged with unlawfully carrying a weapon.
In connection with the defendants’ subsequent pleas in Judge Kirsten Cohoon’s 451st state District Court, Luchin received a 16-year prison sentence, and Dancer and Weatherspoon each received a two-year sentence.
Smith was assessed five years of deferred adjudication.
Prosecutors said the “meticulous investigative work,” including the analysis of inmate jail phone calls and collaboration with law enforcement agencies in California and Houston, allowed Kendall County crime analyst investigator Kristal Reser to link the seized cash to a Feb. 1, 2024, ATM robbery in Huntington Beach, California.
The robbery, characteristic of those committed by a Houston gang known as the “5th Ward Circle,” involved two masked suspects who surprised a technician servicing a Chase Bank ATM machine.
The suspects got away with $240,000 in cash.
Luchin, a documented member of 5th Ward Circle according to law-enforcement officials, then traveled by Greyhound bus from California to El Paso, where he was picked up by the other three defendants, according to investigators.
The group was on the way to Houston when Mieure stopped them in Kendall County.
Alessandra Deike, who prosecuted the case, said the resolution highlights “the effectiveness of interagency cooperation and the dedication of investigators” in pursuing complex criminal activity across state lines, according to a prepared statement.
The successful prosecution of these suspects, she added, was a result of investigations by multiple law officers including DPS Special Agent David Villanueva, Huntington Beach Police Department Detective Zach Pricer, Houston Police Department Lt. Christian Dorton with the gang intelligence unit, and the Kendall County District Attorney’s Office.
The Kendall County investigation aided Huntington Beach police in identifying a second suspect in the ATM robbery, also from Houston, according to the release.
The recovered funds were returned to a Wells Fargo Bank in California.
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