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Texas brothers get about 15 years each for holding a Minnesota family at gunpoint to steal $8 million in crypto
Summary
Two brothers from Waller, Texas, who held a Minnesota family at gunpoint for more than nine hours to force the father to hand over more than $8 million in cryptocurrency have been sentenced to prison, The Block and Decrypt reported.
Raymond Christian Garcia received 180 months and Isiah Angelo Garcia 186 months, about 15 and 15-and-a-half years, from U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank in St. Paul, according to the Justice Department as cited by Decrypt; both had pleaded guilty in June.
Court documents say the pair broke into the family's home in Grant, Minnesota, on Sept. 19, 2025, zip-tied the family and, when the father did not transfer as much as they expected, forced him to drive to the family's cabin to retrieve more hardware wallets, Decrypt reported.
The outlets differ on the sentencing date: Decrypt said Thursday, while The Block said Friday.
Key facts
- The brothers fled after the victim's son called 911 and were later arrested near Houston, Decrypt reported.
- U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen called it "a brazen and calculated act of violence against the victim and his family," Decrypt reported.
- Decrypt described the case as a "wrench attack," where criminals use physical force rather than hacking to take crypto, and cited Chainalysis counting 46 violent incidents in the first half of 2026 with more than $30 million stolen.
- The Block reported the brothers held the family for nine hours at gunpoint for $8 million worth of cryptocurrency.
- Cointelegraph reported that home invasions became the most common form of crypto "wrench attacks" worldwide in the first half of 2026, rising to 20 incidents from one.