Brothers Who Held MN Family At Gunpoint For $8M In Crypto Sentenced

GRANT, MN — Two Texas brothers who held a Grant family at gunpoint for more than nine hours last year and forced the father to hand over more than $8 million in cryptocurrency are headed to federal prison for a combined 366 months.

Raymond Christian Garcia was sentenced to 180 months, or 15 years, and Isiah Angelo Garcia was sentenced to 186 months, or 15 and a half years, U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen announced Friday. Both men are from Waller, Texas.

U.S. District Judge Donovan W. Frank handed down the sentences Thursday. The brothers pleaded guilty on June 18.

According to court documents cited by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota, the brothers traveled from Texas to Minnesota and kidnapped the man and his family at gunpoint inside their home on Sept. 19, 2025.

They zip-tied the family, held them at gunpoint for more than nine hours and demanded access to the man's cryptocurrency accounts.

When the man did not transfer as much cryptocurrency as the brothers expected, they forced him to drive Isiah Garcia to the family's cabin in northern Minnesota, prosecutors said. There, Isiah Garcia made him retrieve additional cryptocurrency storage devices and transfer the funds.

In all, the man was compelled to transfer more than $8 million in cryptocurrency, according to prosecutors.

The brothers fled the area after the man's son called 911. Investigators later identified the pair and arrested them near Houston.

"The Garcia brothers committed a brazen and calculated act of violence against the victim and his family. My office will continue to pursue those who use intimidation and threats to exploit victims, no matter where they flee," Rosen said in a statement.

Christopher D. Dotson, special agent in charge of the FBI's Minneapolis Field Office, said the brothers "violated the sanctity of a home, abducted a victim, terrorized a family at gunpoint for hours, and disrupted an entire community in a brazen act of violence and greed."

"The defendants' acts were targeted, deliberate, and extremely violent," Dotson said. "Crimes like this have real and lasting impacts on victims and entire communities."

"I hope that today's sentence is an important step toward healing for the victims as they recover from these events," he added.

The FBI and the Washington County Sheriff's Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca E. Kline prosecuted it.