Crypto Thieves for Home Invasions Cause Over $3.5M Loss: DOJ Report

Key Points:

• Remy Ra St. Felix, 25, of West Palm Beach, was sentenced to 47 years in prison for leading a series of crypto thieves for home invasions.
• The group’s crimes included a high-profile April 2023 invasion in Durham, North Carolina.

A Florida man was sentenced to 47 years in prison for his involvement with a series of crypto thieves for home invasions, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Wednesday.

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Florida Man Sentenced to 47 Years Because of Crypto Thieves for Home Invasions

Remy Ra St. Felix, 25, of West Palm Beach, was convicted in June of heading the criminal organization responsible for a string of multi-state robberies, including in Florida, North Carolina, and Texas, where they had taken a total of more than $3.5 million of their victims’ money.

One of the robberies occurred in April 2023, involving a couple in Durham, North Carolina, at gunpoint under assault. According to the Department of Justice, before carrying out the home invasion, St. Felix and his cohorts had accessed the couple’s email and had surveilled their home.

The group forcibly made the male victim provide access to his computer and cryptocurrency exchange account. This allowed another conspirator, Jarod Gabriel Seemungal, 23, to remotely steal over $150,000 worth of cryptocurrency.

The DOJ said funds stolen in the heist were laundered through anonymity-enhanced cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance platforms to disguise their source.

Masters Behind Crypto Robbery Ring Sentenced to Lengthy Imprisonment

St. Felix, who was identified as the ringleader of the crew, was arrested when he attempted to carry out another invasion of a home in Long Island, NY, in July 2023. Today, he was sentenced, following a conviction on June 25, at the end of a six-day trial in federal district court in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Seemungal, who actually participated in the Durham robbery, received 20 years in prison in addition to an order to pay restitution of $4.038 million. Other accomplices included Elmer Ruben Castro, 23, who pled guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping and will receive sentencing on Oct. 1. Thus far, a total of 12 have been sentenced for their roles as crypto thieves for home invasions.