Brothers charged in armed kidnapping after $8 million crypto heist in Minnesota

Two brothers who held a family for nine hours at gunpoint and stole $8 million in cryptocurrency were charged with kidnapping on Thursday, prosecutors said.

Raymond Christian Garcia, 23, and Isiah Angelo Garcia, 24, allegedly held a man, his father, and his mother hostage on Sept. 19 in Grant, Minnesota.

As a result, prosecutors said nearby Mahtomedi Public School had to cancel its homecoming football game.

"A violent kidnapping that stole $8 million and silenced a homecoming game is not just a crime. It is a blow to the sense of safety of everyone in Minnesota," said Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson in a statement on Thursday.  "This is not normal."

There have been several crypto-related kidnappings over the past year. In New York City, a 28-year-old Italian victim escaped an upscale Manhattan apartment and said he had been held captive, beaten, and tortured for weeks to give up access to his crypto. In Las Vegas, two teenagers allegedly abducted a man, driving him an hour to a "remote desert" and stole $4 million in crypto.

What happened in Minnesota

Prosecutors said Isiah Garcia pressed one of the victims, the father, to log into his crypto accounts and transfer those funds into a crypto wallet that Raymond Garcia provided. At one point during the kidnapping, the brothers realized that the victim had more crypto funds, which the victim said were on a "hard drive-style cryptocurrency wallet" at a cabin three hours away.

Isiah Garcia then forced that victim into a truck to go get that hard drive, while the other two victims were held hostage. When they returned home, 911 was called.

Law enforcement tracked down a Wendy's receipt, video surveillance of Raymond Garcia renting a motel room in Roseville, Minnesota, and a rental car, which led them to the brothers' house in Waller, Texas.

The brothers were arrested on Sept. 22 and Isiah Garcia confessed, admitting to the crimes. In total, the brothers were charged with three counts of kidnapping, first-degree aggravated robbery, and three counts of first-degree burglary. On the federal level, they were charged with kidnapping, according to the statement on Thursday.