Multi-state ATM ‘jackpotting’ ring takes $68,000 from Canon City credit union, 3 arrested
CANON CITY, Colo. (KRDO) - Three men have been arrested for stealing $68,000 from a Colorado-based Credit Union in Canon City. Canon City Police say they 'jackpotted' an ATM at the Power Credit Union along US 50, and police are connecting this case to similar incidents in Wellington, Fort Collins, Greeley, and Sidney, Nebraska.
Canon City Police charged Joel Alejandro Morantes-Leal with:
- Cyber crime ($20k - $100k), felony
- Financial device theft ($20k - $100k), felony
- Third-degree burglary, misdemeanor
Morantes-Leal is one part of the trio that the Canon City Police have charged with the Southern Colorado theft. Endis Gonzalez Ortega and Isabella De Los Angeles Sulbaran are also facing charges in the Canon City theft.
Arresting documents say the trio was arrested in late May in the Denver area and then taken to the Aurora ICE facility. All three are undocumented immigrants.
Before their arrest, local and federal authorities say Canon City wasn't their only stop. All three are accused of bank/credit union ATM thefts along Colorado's Front Range.
On May 27, Greeley Police Officers were called out to a Points West Community Bank ATM, $10,000 was stolen.
The Larimer County Sheriff's Office is investigating a theft at Points West Community Bank in Wellington on May 28. The ATM had been tampered with, a hard drive was left in the machine, and all the cash was gone.
On the same night, Fort Collins Police were dispatched to another Points West Community Bank. This time, the theft was deterred due to an alarm.
Then, up in Sidney, Nebraska, a Points West Community Bank was burglarized around 1 a.m. on May 29. $32,000 was taken, and police say the suspects looked similar to the Wellington burglary.
The alleged crime spree goes even further. The FBI says the two in the group, Morantes-Leal and Gonzalez Ortega, were involved in eight jackpotting ATM thefts in California in late April to early May.
In all, that makes for a dozen jackpotting thefts in the span of a month. If convicted on all charges, Morantes-Leal and Gonzalez Ortega could face up to 20 years and $500,000 worth of fines.
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