Two brothers from Waller, Texas, have been sentenced to more than 15 years in federal prison for holding a Minnesota family at gunpoint and forcing access to cryptocurrency accounts in a robbery that yielded more than $8 million.
Prison sentences follow guilty pleas
Raymond Christian Garcia received a 180-month sentence, while Isiah Angelo Garcia was sentenced to 186 months. The sentences were issued Thursday by US District Judge Donovan W. Frank, according to a Friday news release. Both brothers pleaded guilty in June.
The case involved an attack on Sept. 19, 2025, after the brothers traveled from Texas to Grant, Minnesota. Court documents said they entered a family’s home, kidnapped the family at gunpoint and restrained its members with zip ties. The victims were held for more than nine hours while the brothers demanded access to the cryptocurrency accounts of one family member.
When the attackers received less cryptocurrency than they expected, they forced that victim to drive to a cabin in upstate Minnesota. There, they obtained additional cryptocurrency from other devices, bringing the total taken to more than $8 million.
The brothers left after the victim’s son called 911. Police later identified and arrested them near Houston.
FBI calls attack a violent crypto wrench incident
The case is an example of what the cryptocurrency security industry commonly calls a “wrench attack”: an attempt to obtain digital assets through physical coercion rather than by exploiting software or a blockchain network.
“Raymond and Isiah Garcia violated the sanctity of a home, abducted a victim, terrorized a family at gunpoint for hours, and disrupted an entire community in a brazen act of violence and greed,” FBI Minneapolis Field Office Special Agent in Charge Christopher D. Dotson said.
According to Cointelegraph, home invasions became the most frequently reported type of crypto wrench attack worldwide during the first half of 2026. CertiK, a blockchain security firm, recorded 20 publicly reported home-invasion incidents during that period, compared with one in the first half of the previous year.
CertiK reported 52 wrench attacks worldwide in the first six months of 2026, up from 39 in the same period of 2025. Kidnapping cases also increased, reaching 16 from 12.
Moneyiar market picture
Moneyiar data recorded at the stated times on Nov. 1, 2026, showed mixed performance among the listed assets:
- Monad (MON): $0.0195049921, up 1.22% over 24 hours and down 7.36% over seven days, as of 12:33 +03:30.
- Sentient (SENT): $0.0199976739, up 4.6% over 24 hours and 0.42% over seven days, as of 12:34 +03:30.
- Four (FORM): $0.2072211899, up 2.55% over 24 hours and down 5.4% over seven days, as of 12:34 +03:30.
- ONEchain (ONE): $0.1074521474, down 1.5% over 24 hours and up 6.87% over seven days, as of 12:34 +03:30.
These market movements are separate from the criminal case and do not indicate any connection between the listed assets and the robbery.
