United States Department of Justice United States Attorney Scott N. Schools Northern District of California 11th Floor, Federal Building FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Brinks Driver Receives 140 Months for Conspiracy to Rob Armored TruckDriver Planned Robbery of Armored Car He Was Driving SAN JOSE – United States Attorney Scott N. Schools announced that Carlos Rodriguez was sentenced to 140 months imprisonment on Monday, August 6, 2007 for his role in an armed robbery of a Brinks armored car in Sunnyvale, California. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Court Judge James Ware following the jury’s guilty verdicts on each of the three counts in the indictment: Hobbs Act Conspiracy, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951; Obstructing Commerce by robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951; and aiding and abetting in the brandishing of a firearm during a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). The latter charge carried a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years consecutive to the underlying convictions. Judge Ware also sentenced the defendant to a three year period of supervised release and ordered him to pay $ 134,000 in restitution. Mr. Rodriguez, age 35, of San Jose, California was charged in an indictment on July 2, 2003, by a federal grand jury sitting in San Jose. After a seven-day jury trial, Mr. Rodriguez was convicted on October 20, 2006 . During the trial, the jurors heard that Mr. Rodriguez, who was employed as a driver for Brinks Armored Car Services, conspired with another person to stage a robbery of the truck he was driving. The evidence showed that after Mr. Rodriguez and his partner (who was not involved in the scheme) arrived at a bank to make a cash delivery, a co-conspirator, who had been waiting in a nearby car, ran towards the defendant’s partner, pointed a gun at him, and took a bag containing approximately $134,000. FBI agents obtained Mr. Rodriguez’s cell phone records, which provided the first clue to solving the robbery. Those records showed calls between Mr. Rodriguez and another person who later confessed that he was the co-conspirator who brandished the gun and stole the money. The co-conspirator testified at trial that Mr. Rodriguez had planned the operation. The evidence at trial also showed that Mr. Rodriguez had attempted to recruit another person to serve as a getaway driver for another bank robbery, but that person, who also testified at trial, had refused to participate. Carlos Singh is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the case with the assistance of Tracey Andersen. The prosecution is the result of a two-year investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety. The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety. Further Information: Case #: 03-20099-RMW A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can. Electronic court filings and further procedural and docket information are available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. Judges’ calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court’s website at www.cand.uscourts.gov. All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be directed to Natalya LaBauve at (415) 436-7055 or by email at Natalya.LaBauve@usdoj.gov.
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