A New York man today admitted participating in a December 2015 robbery of a North Jersey bar and the violent carjacking and kidnapping that took place shortly afterwards, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced.
Guillermo Carrillo-Iraheta, 19, of Suffern, New York, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares in Newark federal court to an information charging him with one count each of conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act Robbery, carjacking, and kidnapping.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Guillermo Carrillo-Iraheta admitted that on Dec. 25, 2015, he and others robbed a bar in Hawthorne, and subsequently fled with approximately $200 in cash.
Afterwards, in the early morning hours of Dec. 26, 2015, Guillermo Carrillo-Iraheta and others hailed a taxi in Paterson and forcibly took the taxi from the driver. Guillermo Carrillo-Iraheta admitted that he and others forced the driver into the back of the vehicle and took over driving. Guillermo Carrillo-Iraheta also admitted that he and others caused seriously bodily injury to the driver by hitting him in the head with a beer bottle and slicing his throat with a knife before eventually leaving him on the side of the road in New York. The taxicab driver survived.
The kidnapping charge carries a maximum potential penalty of life imprisonment. The carjacking charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 25 years in prison.
The conspiracy charge carries a maximum potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for June 27, 2017.
Guillermo Carrillo-Iraheta was originally charged with Wilbur Jonathan Barahona, 21, of Ridgewood, Balmore Carrillo-Iraheta, 19, of Suffern, Juan Chiliseo-Vega, 20, of Suffern, Oscar Avalos-Cortez, 23, of New City, New York, and Jostin Reyes, 21, of Waldwick, in November 2016.
Chiliseo-Vega pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph A. Dickson in Newark federal court on March 21, 2017 to a three-count information charging him with conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act Robbery, carjacking, and kidnapping. He awaits sentencing.