Eighth Member of Perfume Warehouse Armed Robbery Scheme Involving NYPD Officers Pleads Guilty

NEWARK, NJ—Luis Reyes, 28, of New York, N.Y., pleaded guilty today to conspiring to commit the armed robbery of a Carlstadt, New Jersey perfume warehouse, in which he—together with three active New York Police Department officers, one former NYPD officer and others—stole approximately $600,000 in perfume while holding 11 employees hostage, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Reyes entered his guilty plea before United States District Judge William H. Walls. The defendant was remanded pending sentencing, scheduled for January 18, 2011.

Reyes was arrested on June 23, 2010, and charged in a superseding Indictment with NYPD Officers Kelvin L. Jones and Danny Bannout of Brooklyn, N.Y. NYPD Officers Brian Checo and Richard LeBlanca of New York, N.Y.; former NYPD Officer Orlando Garcia of New York; and Gabriel Vargas, Alan Bannout, Luis R. Morales and Anselmo Jimenes, all of Brooklyn, were also charged by criminal Complaint on March 5, 2010 for their participation in the heist.

According to the documents filed in this case and statements made in federal court:

At his plea hearing, Reyes admitted that he conspired with others in February 2010 to rob the warehouse in Carlstadt, N.J., used by a company known as In-Style USA, Inc. As part of the conspiracy, Reyes accompanied other conspirators to a truck rental facility in Jersey City, N.J., where two box trucks were rented to transport the perfume to be stolen from the warehouse. The crew then raided the warehouse and restrained 11 employees while other conspirators loaded hundreds of boxes of perfume onto box trucks brought to the scene.

The charge to which Reyes pleaded guilty carries a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.

Checo pleaded guilty on March 23, 2010 to conspiring to commit the armed robbery. LeBlanca, Garcia and Morales pleaded guilty on April 20, April 26, and May 26, 2010, respectively, to the same charge. On May 5, 2010, May 18, 2010, and August 12, 2010, respectively, Alan Bannout, Gabriel Vargas and Danny Bannout pleaded guilty to the robbery conspiracy, as well as to one count of transporting stolen goods in interstate commerce following their burglary of the storage unit in North Brunswick. All the defendants entered their guilty pleas before Judge Walls.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward in Newark, with conducting the investigation. Fishman also thanked the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of John L. Molinelli, as well as the Carlstadt Police Department and the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau, for their assistance.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric T. Kanefsky and Christopher J. Gramiccioni of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Special Prosecutions Division in Newark.

As for the defendants with pending cases, the charges against them are merely accusations and they are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.