Two Texas brothers have pleaded guilty in a brazen crypto kidnapping that left a Minnesota family robbed of more than $8 million in digital assets.
Isiah Angelo Garcia, 25, and Raymond Christian Garcia, 24, both of Waller, Texas, entered guilty pleas Thursday to one count each of interference with commerce by robbery, the Justice Department said. The pleas were entered before U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery in Minneapolis.
Prosecutors say the brothers flew to Minnesota specifically to carry out the attack. On the morning of September 19, 2025, they forced their way into a home in Grant, a small Minneapolis-area city, held a man and his family at gunpoint for over eight hours, zip-tied them, and coerced access to the victim’s cryptocurrency accounts. Court records state Isiah Garcia even forced the man to drive to the family’s cabin in northern Minnesota to retrieve additional crypto storage devices and to move funds. The brothers ultimately compelled transfers totaling more than $8 million before fleeing after the family’s son managed to call 911.
Investigators were able to identify the suspects from items they left at the scene and tracked them to the Houston area, where both men were arrested. According to court filings, the brothers admitted using firearms to threaten the family. “No one should ever feel unsafe in their own home,” said FBI Minneapolis Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dotson, pledging that such “violence and greed” will be aggressively investigated. U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen said the pleas show a commitment to holding the men “accountable for the choices they made.”
Each defendant faces up to 20 years in federal prison and has agreed to pay more than $8 million in restitution. Sentencing dates have not yet been set. The pair were first charged in September, days after the attack, which shook the Grant community and prompted a local high school to cancel a homecoming football game while police searched for the perpetrators.
The case joins a growing international trend of so-called “wrench attacks,” in which crypto holders are forced at gunpoint or by other violence to surrender private keys or transfer funds. High-profile U.S. prosecutions include last year’s 47-year federal sentence for Remy St. Felix, convicted in North Carolina for running a violent crypto home-invasion ring. In May, three Tennessee men were indicted over a reported wrench-attack spree in California that allegedly netted $6.5 million. France has also emerged as a hotspot: prosecutors there have charged 88 people, including minors, in dozens of kidnapping investigations, one of which targeted Ledger co-founder David Balland, who was reportedly abducted and mutilated before being rescued.
Security experts say many wrench attacks likely go unreported and urge crypto holders to keep holdings and personal security measures out of public view. Law enforcement continues to pursue both violent perpetrators and broader prevention strategies as digital-asset thefts evolve from cyber schemes into dangerous real-world crimes.
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