A group of Southern Californians allegedly stole mail and checks from post offices in Los Angeles and Orange counties, often reaching multiple locations in a single day, and then turned to social media for help getting them out. profit from his loot.
Authorities accuse Antonio Hernández and his accomplices Iván Murillo-Hernández and Alexis García Martínez of stealing mail from unsuspecting places with the help of four minors, whose names were not revealed. They then allegedly took to social media to solicit people with bank accounts to help them fraudulently cash the stolen checks.
The check amounts ranged from the low four figures ($1,500, $1,725 and $1,800) to a whopping $555,099.14 on a light pink business check. Total damages to financial institutions amounted to more than $800,000 during a 10-month wave that ended in August 2023, authorities allege.
At times, the enforcement team would even post Instagram videos of their police chases or of them flashing thousands of dollars in cash, asking their followers for likes, according to court documents.
A Major Injury responded to their requests for attention last week with indictments against Hernandez, Murillo-Hernandez and Martinez for felonies, including bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, post office robbery and theft of mail.
The three are expected to return to U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on June 20 for a pretrial conference.
The legal representation of Hernández and Alexis García Martínez could not be located. The attorney representing Murillo-Hernández had no comment.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, a federal agency that protects postal facilities and letter carriers and investigates mail-related crimes, anchored the investigation in the circle of control with the help of law enforcement agencies in several counties.
The 22-page indictment accuses the crew of several incidents in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino County between November 14, 2002 and August 18, 2023.
Many of the post offices they attacked had open doors, back entrances, docks or unmanned areas that allowed thefts.
On April 4, 2023, crew members allegedly stole mail from an Upland post office through an open back door, according to court documents. Hernandez, who the Postal Inspection Service believes is a member of the Northeast Avenues gang in Los Angeles, allegedly shoved a postal worker who tried to take a photo of the license plate of the getaway vehicle, a silver Toyota Camry.
That same day, the indictment alleges, Hernandez, Murillo-Hernandez and three accomplices stole mail from an Anaheim post office, then drove to the parking lot of a restaurant on South State College Boulevard and opened the stolen mail. Envelopes containing checks were kept while everything else was disposed of in a nearby trash bin.
When an Anaheim police cruiser stopped near the silver Camry, the crew fled in what turned into a high-speed chase on the 57 and 60 freeways, according to court documents.
The crew made it to Rowland Heights before stopping, abandoning the vehicle and leaving on foot, the indictment alleges, and Hernandez and another person successfully evaded capture.
One of the alleged accomplices who was captured posted a video that night of a police car turning on its warning lights, apparently seen from the passenger-side rearview mirror of the pursued car. The accomplice asked his followers to “like” the post, according to court documents.
About a month passed before another duo of conspirators stole checks from the docks of a post office in El Segundo on June 8, according to court documents. That day, the indictment alleges, the crew also attacked a post office in West Hills. It was in that robbery that the group stole a check for $555,099.25 from the Chase Bank account of a West Hills business, the indictment says.
The next day, Hernandez reposted an Instagram story from an accomplice that showed three pink checks stolen from a Chase account, according to the indictment. One caption read: “The little friend fulfilled the receipts. Thanks boy”. Slips, in this reference, is slang for checks.
Despite their brazenness, the gang was also deterred by small measures, authorities say.
They fled a La Mirada post office on March 2, 2023 because a postal employee approached them, the indictment says. Two days later, an attempt to attack a La Cañada Flintridge post office was thwarted by a locked door, according to court documents.
However, once they stole checks, they turned to social media to get a payday, the indictment alleges. The team looked for people with long-established bank accounts to cash the checks so they could access their money more quickly, according to court documents.
To persuade third parties to cash the checks, crew members often claimed to be the legitimate recipients and offered to share a portion of the profits, concealing the fact that the checks had been stolen, the indictment alleges. Some crew members also sold stolen checks instead of cashing them, according to court documents.
Authorities finally caught up with Hernández and the alleged accomplice who had evaded capture on August 18, 2023, raiding the home they shared.
Hernandez posted a final Instagram story that day, according to court documents, saying, “The FBI raided me earlier, delete everything you have of [sic] me.”
