45°
Garcia, a 25-year-old former NYPD cop, and three active city officers took $600,000 worth of high-end perfume while holding 11 employees hostage the night of Feb. 9.
Garcia, who worked in the 30th Precinct, told a federal judge in Newark today that he hatched the plot to rob In Style USA warehouse, along with NYPD Officers Brian Checo, Richard LaBlanca and Kelvin Jones.
The night of the holdup, they barged in, waving guns and displaying NYPD-issued badges. They then tied up the employees with plastic cuffs, while laborers they recruited for the job loaded hundreds of boxes of perfume onto rented trucks.
Officers grabbed some of the ringleaders at the scene, in addition to the day laborers, who were later released. CLIFFVIEWPILOT broke the story soon after the holdup: Read it here.
Garcia admitted that he called his credit card company the next day to report the card stolen, in an attempt to cover up the fact that he used the card to rent one of the two trucks used in the heist.
Checo and LeBlanca already have pleaded guilty to their involvement.
Federal authorities are still assembling their case against Jones — which no doubt will include testimony by the three associates who’ve already pleaded guilty.
Garcia, meanwhile, remains held without bail until an Aug. 2 sentencing. He’s looking at up to 20 years in federal prison.
Also facing charges are Gabriel Vargas, Luis R. Morales, Anselmo Jimenes, and Alan A. Bannout, all of Brooklyn.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Rutherford and receive free news updates.
