Texas brothers charged after allegedly holding Minnesota family hostage, stealing $8M in crypto
Two Texas brothers were arrested and charged after allegedly kidnapping a Minnesota family last week, holding them hostage at gunpoint for hours and stealing $8 million in cryptocurrency, federal prosecutors said on Thursday.
Raymond Christian Garcia, 23, and Isiah Angelo Garcia, 24, were charged with federal kidnapping after allegedly holding a husband, wife, and their adult son hostage in their Grant, Minnesota, home on Sept. 19, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota press release. They also face state charges of kidnapping with a firearm, aggravated robbery, and first-degree burglary.
An attorney representing Isiah Garcia for the preliminary matters in Texas deferred comments to the attorney who will represent him in Minnesota. He does not yet have an attorney in Minnesota.
A lawyer for Raymond Garcia did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
Prosecutors allege that the suspects, armed with an AR-15-style rifle and a shotgun, approached the husband as he was taking out the garbage. The brothers took the victim into the garage, where they bound his hands with zip ties, according to criminal complaints for both brothers.
The suspects then brought the husband into the house and woke up the wife and son at gunpoint, the complaint says. The wife and son were zip-tied and told to lie on the floor, according to the complaint.
Prosecutors said that while Raymond Garcia, armed with the rifle, held the wife and son at gunpoint, Isiah Garcia forced the husband to log into his cryptocurrency accounts. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a press release that the suspect demanded the husband “transfer large amounts of cryptocurrency into a cryptocurrency wallet that Isiah Garcia provided.”
The husband, according to prosecutors, said he saw the brothers making phone calls to a third party “who appeared to be providing the information related to the cryptocurrency accounts and transfers,” the release states.
The criminal complaints do not say if the third party has been arrested in the case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a Friday statement that “beyond our already-public statements, we aren’t able to comment on the ongoing investigation.”
Through this third party, the brothers allegedly became aware that the victim had additional cryptocurrency funds and demanded the money, prosecutors said. The victim told the brothers that the funds were stored in a hard drive-style cryptocurrency wallet at the family’s cabin, located about three hours away in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, according to prosecutors.
The complaints allege that Isiah Garcia, armed with the shotgun, forced the husband into the husband’s truck and drove to the cabin. He then allegedly made the husband transfer the cryptocurrency funds into a wallet provided by the suspect, according to the complaints.
While this was happening, prosecutors allege that Raymond Garcia was still holding the wife and son hostage in the home. According to the complaints, Raymond Garcia briefly left the home and headed toward a tree line. Prosecutors said the son used this time to call 911.
When Raymond Garcia returned to the family’s home, he did not have the rifle, according to the complaints.
As deputies approached the home, Raymond Garcia allegedly fled, according to the complaints.
Around the same time, prosecutors allege that Isaiah Garcia was approaching the family’s home, but turned the truck around when he saw the law enforcement response. The complaints allege that he parked the vehicle and walked toward a nearby middle school while ditching the shotgun. The shotgun was recovered in a field, prosecutors said.
Due to police activity in the area, a local homecoming football game was canceled, according to the press release.
The brothers were eventually traced back to Texas by a Wendy’s receipt found in a suitcase that allegedly belonged to them, prosecutors said. A disassembled AR-15 style rifle, ammunition, clothing, and beverages were also found in the suitcase, according to the complaints.
“A violent kidnapping that stole $8 million and silenced a homecoming game is not just a crime,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson said in a statement about the case. “This is not normal. Minnesotans should not accept wild violence and thievery as normal. Every Minnesotan deserves to live in peace and a life unaffected by rampant crime.”
Prosecutors said in the press release that after the brothers were arrested, Isiah Garcia “confessed” that he and his brother drove to Minnesota, held the family at gunpoint, and forced the husband to go to the cabin.
According to an NBC News analysis, crypto-related abductions have increased every year since 2019. NBC News identified 17 instances of cryptocurrency-related kidnappings in 2024, the highest reported number in the last decade.
2025 is on track to have potentially twice as many physical attacks on crypto holders as the next highest year on record, according to Chainalysis, a blockchain analytics firm.
One case that garnered attention was in May, when two crypto traders were arrested in connection with the kidnapping and torture of a man in his New York City apartment. They pleaded not guilty in June.
These attacks have also occurred worldwide. According to an NBC News analysis, 44 different countries have experienced attacks on crypto holders.
