HOUSTON – Six Houston residents have been indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiracy to travel across the country to break into bank ATMs and steal the money inside, according to a press release.
Officials said Deandre J. Gilliam, 19, Ladarious S. Thomas, 28, Jamarkus D. Bogany, 19, J’Korean K. Hadnott, 19, Ocatvious Q. Waiters, 20, and Clayton J. Brown, 21, were charged in a three-count indictment. Each of the defendants faces one count of conspiracy, one count of bank theft, and one count of transporting stolen property across state lines. The jury returned the indictment in Kansas City, Mo. on June 23.
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The indictment was unsealed and made public Thursday following the arrest and initial court appearances of Gilliam, Thomas, Bogany, Waiters, and Brown in the U.S. District Court in Houston, per the release. Investigators said the suspects are being held in federal custody pending a detention hearing Friday.
Officials said the men, along with co-conspired not identified or charged in the indictment, organized the conspiracy from November 2019 to March 2020. They planned to travel in groups from Texas to other states, including Missouri and Kansas, to steal from banks by forcing open ATMs and stealing money from cash boxes. They also premeditated to steal a large pick-up truck and then search for ATMs to rob.
According to the indictment, on March 5, 2020, all six of the defendants left Houston in three separate vehicles and traveled to the Kansas City metropolitan area. Investigators said the group stole a Ford F-250 the next day. At about 5:30 p.m. that same day, they burglarized an ATM at Chase Bank. They attached tow chains with hooks to the pickup truck and used the force of acceleration to remove the exterior metal panel of the ATM.
They stole over $150,000 from inside the damaged ATM, per the indictment.
Later that day, law enforcement officers in Montgomery County spotted the three vehicles being driven by the defendants, who were driving in tandem southbound on Interstate 45, according to the indictment. Officers said they attempted to stop all three vehicles: Hadnott and Waiters pulled over to the shoulder, but the other vehicles attempted to flee from law enforcement.
According to the indictment, Brown and another unnamed conspirator fled before they crashed and were apprehended. While a Chevrolet Impala occupied by Thomas, Gilliam, and Bogany fled from officers before all three fled from the vehicle on foot. Thomas, the driver, was taken into custody after a foot chase.
With the assistance of air surveillance, officers later located and arrested Bogany and Gilliam, who were carrying a Spiderman backpack that contained approximately $72,385 (primarily in $20 bills). One of the Impala occupants dropped a duffle bag while running from officers, which was retrieved by an unknown woman before officers could recover it, per the incitement.
This case is being prosecuted by the Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Venneman in Kansas City, along with the support from the FBI Field Offices in Kansas City and Houston, the Kansas City Police Department, the Houston Police Department, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the Montgomery County Constable.