A Miami resident from Cuba has been sentenced to 41 months in federal prison for his role in the brazen $1.5 million heist of cigarettes from the Coremark Warehouse in Leitchfield, Kentucky. Rodriguez-Hernandez, 41, admitted to acting as a lookout during the March 2011 burglary, part of a multi-state conspiracy that saw stolen goods hauled to the New Jersey and New York area for illicit sale. The final defendant in the case, he was sentenced by Chief Judge Joseph H. McKinley Jr. in Owensboro, KY, and ordered to pay $1,486,164.45 in restitution.
Working in tandem with a crew of Miami-based co-conspirators, Rodriguez-Hernandez rented three hotel rooms in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, between March 18 and March 20, 2011, as safe houses for the operation. Inside the warehouse, co-defendants Amuary Villa, 41, Ivan Romero (a/k/a El Negro), and Amed Villa breached the roof, disabled the alarm system, and loaded a stolen tractor trailer with nearly $1.5 million in cigarettes. The stolen shipment, part of an interstate and foreign shipment of property valued over $1,000, was intended for resale in the Northeast black market.
Amuary Villa, who also faces charges in a separate $90 million pharmaceutical theft from an Eli Lilly facility in Connecticut, received a 77-month federal sentence to run consecutive to a 140-month term from the Southern District of Florida and the District of Connecticut. He admitted to scouting the Leitchfield warehouse, cutting through the roof, and disabling security systems. Romero, another legal permanent resident from Cuba, provided transportation for the cigarettes and will serve 57 months in federal custody after completing a six-year state sentence in Florida.
Amed Villa, brother of Amuary, was previously sentenced on December 5, 2016, in the District of Connecticut to 84 months in prison for his involvement in the Eli Lilly pharmaceutical theft and other warehouse burglaries, including the Leitchfield cigarette job. All defendants are now facing extended incarceration with no chance of parole, marking the end of a years-long investigation into a far-reaching criminal network that exploited interstate logistics for profit.
“Working together, federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies dismantled this far-flung network of criminality,” said United States Attorney John E. Kuhn, Jr. “As they serve their well-deserved extended sentences without the prospect of parole, these thieves will come to understand the ultimate reward for criminal conduct is the pen, not pelf.”
Stuart Lowrey, Special Agent in Charge for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Louisville Field Division, added, “This case demonstrates the importance of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and our prosecutors collaborating to investigate criminals whose activities are not bound by city or state lines. Our partnerships solve major crimes and promote public safety.”
Restitution totaling $1,486,164.45 will be paid to Coremark and its insurance company. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Judd. The investigation was led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with support from multiple state and local agencies across Kentucky, Florida, and Connecticut.
Related Federal Cases
- Bankruptcy Bandit: MD Man Gets 90 Months for $1.8M Scam · Washington
- Maryland Man Gets 90 Months for $1.8M Bankruptcy Scam · Washington
- Fossil Raider Cue Gets 57 Months · Pennsylvania
- Amgen Pays $71M for Pushing Drugs Off-Label · Washington
- Amgen Inc. $71M Settlement · Washington
Key Facts
- State: Kentucky
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Organized Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
🔒 Get the grimiest stories delivered weekly. Subscribe free →
Browse More
