Man Charged With Bank Robberies In Santurce And Bayamón

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Carlos Javier Alvelo-Cartagena with two bank robberies and a firearm offense, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. 

According to the Government’s allegations, in January 2020, Alvelo-Cartagena committed an armed robbery of an Oriental Bank branch on Betances Avenue in Bayamón.  Alvelo-Cartagena stole $1,740.  

In August 2021, Alvelo-Cartagena robbed the Parada 18 branch of Banco Popular, located inside a Walmart Store in Santurce.  Alvelo-Cartagena stole $1,501.  Police arrested Alvelo-Cartagena shortly after the robbery and recovered most of the money stolen from Banco Popular.

Assistant U.S. Attorney E. Giovannie Mercado of the Violent Crimes and National Security Section is in charge of the prosecution of the case.  The Federal Bureau of Investigation is in charge of the investigation.  If convicted, the defendant faces a sentence of up to twenty years in prison for the bank robberies. 

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

###