Three men have been sentenced to federal prison for a scheme that saw ATMs physically torn out of the ground at two Baton Rouge credit unions, with thieves making off with more than $285,000 total. Deantrae Mason, 26, of Baton Rouge, Alex Mata, 23, of Houston, and Brandon Griffin Jr., 26, of Houston, each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank burglary and bank theft.
According to the Unfiltered with Kiran, the U.S. Attorney's Office for Louisiana's Middle District released details of the guilty pleas and sentences. Investigators say an ATM at a Pelican State Credit Union branch on N. Lobdell Boulevard was ripped from its concrete base and destroyed, with roughly $106,120 taken, according to a Department of Justice release. A second machine at a Neighbors Federal Credit Union branch on Howell Boulevard was hit in a separate heist that netted about $179,000.
How the Thefts Were Carried Out
The scheme relied on stolen vehicles, with the thieves preferring heavy-duty trucks they could use alongside tow straps to physically pull ATMs from their mounts, per the same report. Once the machines were wrenched loose, the resulting damage gave the men access to the cash stored inside.
Mason's criminal history included prior weapons, drugs and bank fraud charges, and four state cases against him were dismissed after his federal indictment, the outlet's report notes. He received the stiffest sentence of the three: two years in prison and three years of supervised release, along with an order to pay $285,120 in restitution and forfeit $95,039.99.
Sentences and Financial Penalties
Mata was sentenced to 22 months in prison, also followed by three years of supervised release. He was ordered to pay the same $285,120 in restitution as Mason and to forfeit $95,039.99. Griffin received the lightest prison term of the three, a year and a day, plus three years of supervised release; he was ordered to pay $106,120 in restitution and forfeit $35,373.33.
Not an Isolated Tactic in Baton Rouge
Ripping ATMs from their bases with stolen trucks is not a new method in the Baton Rouge area. Back in February 2020, the Baton Rouge Police Department announced five arrests in a separate round of attempted ATM thefts that also involved occupying stolen vehicles.
Similar tactics have surfaced in federal cases far from Louisiana. In one case detailed by the Department of Justice's Northern District of Iowa office, a stolen pickup truck used to haul away a Cedar Falls ATM was driven until its tires were gone and its rims and running boards dragged on the pavement before it finally stopped moving. And in Utah, the FBI's Salt Lake City field office reported that the final Texas defendant tied to the robbery of a credit union ATM there was sentenced to five years in prison and three years of supervised release.
