A 10-count superseding indictment was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Robert Rodriguez with Hobbs Act robbery, Hobbs Act robbery conspiracy, and related firearms crimes for planning and executing four armed robberies targeting the owner and patrons of a Queens check-cashing business in July 2020 and September 2021. Rodriguez was arrested today and is scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Taryn A. Merkl. Rodriguez’s co-defendant, Raymundo Heyaime Sanchez, was previously arrested and indicted for Hobbs Act robbery and related crimes for his role in one of the four robberies charged in the superseding indictment. Sanchez is currently detained pending trial.
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, John B. DeVito, Special Agent-in-Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, New York Field Division (ATF), and Keechant L. Sewell, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced the charges.
“As alleged in the superseding indictment, the defendant is charged with the brazen gunpoint robberies of the owner and customers of a Queens check cashing business,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “Such openly menacing and violent conduct will not be tolerated. This Office will vigorously prosecute criminals who allegedly commit violent crimes using guns and endanger the safety and security of our communities.”
“Today’s arrest of an armed violent criminal by the ATF/NYPD Sparta Task Force is another example of our unwavering commitment to aggressively pursue and investigate acts of violence involving the use of firearms in our communities” stated ATF Special Agent-in- Charge DeVito. “The defendant’s willful disregard for the safety and security of our citizens was evident by preying on both the business and customers alike. Thanks to our partners in the United States Attorney’s Office and the NYPD, this defendant will now have to answer for his violent actions in a court of law.”
“Today’s indictment is another example of our laser-like focus on combating violent crime and holding accountable anyone who endangers people on our streets,” stated NYPD Commissioner Sewell. “If you carry an illegal gun in New York City – and especially if you use that gun to terrorize our communities – you will be arrested and charged accordingly. Thanks to the combined efforts of the NYPD and our partners at the ATF and the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, the accused in this case now faces the prospect of significant federal prison time.”
As set forth in court filings, Rodriguez, Sanchez, and a co-conspirator targeted the owner of a check-cashing business located in Jamaica, New York. On July 3, 2020, after conducting surveillance of the owner’s home and business, the owner was confronted in the driveway of the business by masked bandits who pistol-whipped him on the back of the head before robbing him of more than $1 million. Rodriguez subsequently committed three additional robberies of the business’s customers more than a year later. On each occasion, Rodriguez purportedly waited in a vehicle near the check-cashing business until a customer departed, at which point he followed each victim by car before ultimately robbing the customer at gunpoint.
The charges in the indictment are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted of the charges, the defendants face a mandatory minimum of 84 months’ imprisonment and up to life in prison.
The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Lindsey R. Oken and Adam Toporovsky.
The Defendants:
ROBERT RODRIGUEZ (also known as “Chicho”)
Age: 37
Brooklyn, New York
RAYMUNDO HEYAIME SANCHEZ
Age: 25
Brooklyn, New York
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 21-CR-465 (S-1)(PKC)