Source: Office of United States Attorneys
Paducah, KY –A federal criminal complaint and arrest warrant were issued this week charging two Venezuelan men with conspiracy to commit bank larceny and attempted bank larceny.
U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky, Special Agent in Charge Michael E. Stansbury of the FBI Louisville Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Rana Saoud of Homeland Security Investigations Nashville, and Police Chief Mike Canon of the Calvert City Police Department made the announcement.
According to court records, on January 31, 2025, Jhoandiris Jimenez-Barrio, 26, and Yirvel Yonaiker Rios-Castro, 20, both citizens of Venezuela, attempted to steal money from an ATM located in Calvert City, Kentucky. That day the Calvert City Police Department responded to an ATM alarm and the men fled the scene in a vehicle traveling between 70 and 80 mph. The men struck another vehicle and fled the wreck on foot. The Calvert City Police Department apprehended the men near a service station in Calvert City. A search of their vehicle yielded a cordless drill, drill bits, latex gloves, a mask, and duct tape.
Homeland Security Investigations verified that Jimenez-Barrio and Rios-Castro are Venezuelan and entered the United States illegally.
Jimenez-Barrio and Rios-Castro are in state custody and will make initial appearances before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky at a later date. If convicted on the charges in the complaint, the men face maximum potential penalties of 50 years in prison, a $500,000 fine, and three years of supervised release. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
There is no parole in the federal system.
The FBI, HSI, and Calvert City Police Department are investigating.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Seth Hancock and Raymond McGee, of the U.S. Attorney’s Paducah Branch Office, are prosecuting the case.
A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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