Texas brothers sentenced to 15 years for $8M crypto kidnapping

Raymond Christian Garcia and Isiah Angelo Garcia were sentenced to 15 years and 15-and-a-half years in prison, respectively. The brothers pleaded guilty in June before their sentencing. They traveled from Texas to Grant, Minnesota, on September 19, 2025, to commit the robbery. The pair zip-tied the family and held them at gunpoint for more than nine hours. They forced the victim to drive one of them to a cabin in upstate Minnesota to retrieve hardware wallets. The victim was compelled to transfer over $8 million in cryptocurrency. The pair fled after the victim's son called 911 and were later arrested near Houston.

U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank sentenced the brothers in St. Paul. U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen described the act as a 'brazen and calculated act of violence'. FBI's Christopher Dotson stated the brothers violated the sanctity of a home in an act of violence and greed. The case is classified as a 'wrench attack' where criminals use physical force to seize crypto. Chainalysis logged 46 violent incidents against crypto holders with over $30 million stolen in the first half of 2026.