Two brothers from Texas have been sentenced to more than 15 years in federal prison for holding a Minnesota family at gunpoint and taking more than $8 million in cryptocurrency.

Raymond Christian Garcia, 24, was sentenced to 180 months, or 15 years, in prison. His brother, Isiah Angelo Garcia, 25, received a sentence of 186 months, or 15.5 years. Both men are from Waller, Texas.

The sentences were handed down on Oct. 29 before U.S. District Judge Donovan W. Frank, according to a Friday news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota. The brothers pleaded guilty in June to one count each of interference with commerce by robbery, a federal offense that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The charge stemmed from the armed robbery of a family in Grant, Minnesota.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the brothers traveled from Texas to Minnesota on Sept. 19, 2025. Court documents state that they entered the family’s home, kidnapped a man identified as Victim 1, and held him and his family at gunpoint for more than nine hours.

The brothers zip-tied the family members and demanded access to Victim 1’s cryptocurrency accounts. Prosecutors said Isiah Garcia pressured the father to log in and send funds to a wallet provided by his brother.

The amount transferred was less than the brothers expected. They subsequently learned that the father held additional cryptocurrency in a hard drive-style hardware wallet at a cabin about three hours away. Hardware wallets of this kind store the private keys that control cryptocurrency holdings offline, keeping funds out of reach of remote attackers but placing the devices themselves at risk in physical attacks. The brothers forced Victim 1 to drive to the cabin in upstate Minnesota, where they took more cryptocurrency from other devices. The total value of the stolen assets exceeded $8 million.

The victim’s son called 911, prompting the brothers to flee. Investigators later identified and arrested them near Houston. Police traced the suspects using a Wendy’s receipt, video showing Raymond Garcia renting a motel room in Roseville, Minnesota, and information from a rental car. Those clues led investigators to the brothers’ home in Waller, Texas, where officers soon made the arrests.

FBI Minneapolis Field Office Special Agent in Charge Christopher D. Dotson described the conduct as targeted and extremely violent. He called the robbery a brazen act of violence and greed.

“Raymond and Isiah Garcia violated the sanctity of a home, abducted a victim, terrorized a family at gunpoint for hours, and disrupted an entire community,” Dotson said on Friday.

The case comes as security firm CertiK reports an increase in physical attacks targeting cryptocurrency holders, often referred to as “wrench attacks,” in which perpetrators use physical force or threats to extract digital assets from holders rather than hacking. CertiK said it verified 52 such attacks worldwide during the first half of 2026, up 33% from 39 incidents during the same period in 2025. The number of kidnappings increased to 16 from 12 over the same periods, according to CertiK’s July report.

🇺🇸⚖️ TEXAS BROTHERS GET 15+ YEARS FOR $8M CRYPTO KIDNAPPING OF MINNESOTA FAMILY The US Attorney's Office for Minnesota says Raymond Christian Garcia (24) and Isiah Angelo Garcia (25), both of Waller, Texas, were sentenced on Oct 29 to 180 and 186 months in federal prison. Per… pic.twitter.com/5CYU9CNTUo — Dark Web Intelligence (@DailyDarkWeb) October 31, 2026

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Original report: CoinCentral