Raymond Christian Garcia and Isiah Angelo Garcia, both from Waller, Texas, were sentenced to 180 months and 186 months in prison respectively for armed robbery and kidnapping in Grant, Minnesota. U.S. District Judge Donovan W. Frank issued the sentences Thursday, following the brothers' guilty pleas in June.
The brothers traveled to Minnesota and initiated their crime on Sept. 19, 2025. They kidnapped a family at gunpoint in their home, zip-tied the victims and held them for more than nine hours while demanding access to cryptocurrency accounts. When the initial take fell short, they forced one victim to drive to a cabin in upstate Minnesota, where they accessed additional crypto wallets and obtained more than $8 million in total digital assets.
The victim's son called 911, prompting the brothers to flee. Police arrested them near Houston.
The case underscores a sharp rise in physical attacks targeting crypto holders. Home invasions became the most common form of wrench attack globally in the first half of 2026, with 20 publicly reported incidents compared to just one in the same period a year earlier.
Blockchain security firm CertiK logged 52 wrench attacks worldwide in the first half of 2026, a 33 percent increase from 39 incidents in the first half of 2025. Kidnappings specifically rose to 16 from 12 over the same periods.
