Two Florida men broke into a home in Durham, N.C., tied the husband and wife with cables and stole $150,000.00 worth of cryptocurrency, according to federal prosecutors. 

What You Need To Know

  • Remy Ra St Felix and Elmer Ruben Castro of Florida stole $3.5 million worth if cryptocurrency, cash, and property

  • St Felix, Castro and their crew targeted homes in North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Texas and New York

  • The two robbers were sentenced to prison in Greensboro, last week

In April 2023, Remy Ra St Felix, 25, and Elmer Ruben Castro, 23, of West Palm Beach, broke in a married couple’s home and brutally assaulted them, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina said.

During the robbery, the couple was held at gunpoint, and the husband was forced to provide St Felix and Castro access to his computer. Together, the men “stole over $150,000 worth of cryptocurrency,” according to federal prosecutors.

This was not the first or last home invasion that St Felix participated in, nor was this plan originally his, documents showed. St Felix was recruited to the conspirator’s team in late 2020 by Jarod Gabriel Seemungal, 23, of West Palm Beach, prosecutors said. After two years, St Felix became the leader of the team, officials said. 

Working with 11 other people, St Felix was able to steal over $3.5 million, either in cash, property, or cryptocurrency, according to federal prosecutors. Home robberies took place in Florida, New York, Georgia, Texas and North Carolina. Many victims were held at gunpoint, assaulted and were bound by cables.  

In September 2022, in Delray Beach, Florida, St Felix and his crew broke into a home and held their victims at gunpoint. That same month, in Homestead Florida, they held a man and his family at gunpoint, abducted the man, held him hostage and beat him, federal prosecutors said.

“The man was found by law enforcement 120 miles from his home,” according to federal prosecutors.

In December 2022, St Felix and his crew broke into a home in Little Elm, Texas, according to federal persecutors. The family of the home was also held at gunpoint for three hours while the man and his mother were tortured. The robbers stole about “$150,000 in cash, two Rolex watches, and a valuable necklace and pendant,” officials said.  

In July 2023, St Felix attempted to rob the home of a family of five in Long Island, New York, according to federal prosecutors. He was arrested before he could commit the crime, and he was found carrying two guns and cable.

Before entering, St Felix and his co-conspirators would watch their victims’ homes for multiple days. They communicated using “an encrypted messaging application to plan their crimes,” according to federal prosecutors. In these messages, they “identified targets and discussed how to gain entry to homes, the tools required to carry out the crimes, the technical aspects of cryptocurrency, and the patterns of the lives of their targets,” according to federal prosecutors.

The conspirators were able to gain access to their victim’s accounts by accessing their victim’s phone numbers and using a technique called SIM swapping, authorities said. Hotel rooms, rental cars, and firearms were bought by Seemungal and other co-conspirators to use during robberies. 

With the help of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS), the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina was able to apprehend the cryptocurrency robbers, according to federal prosecutors.

St Felix was arrested and convicted of his crimes last week in Greensboro, North Carolina. He will serve 47 years in prison, “five years of supervised release” and ordered to pay over $500,000 in restitution,” according to federal prosecutors.

Seemungal pleaded guilty to planning the robberies, participating in them and hacking victim’s cryptocurrency accounts. He was “sentenced to 20 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release” and ordered to pay over $4 million in restitution, according to federal prosecutors. Castro pleaded “guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping and kidnapping.” He will be sentenced on Oct. 1.