Orlando, Florida – United States District Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr. has sentenced the remaining four defendants in a series of bank ATM machine thefts. Each of the individuals previously pleaded guilty to bank burglary for their role in the thefts, which targeted five banks in Central Florida and resulted in $593,650 being stolen and over $100,000 in damages to the five ATM machines. Details for the four defendants are listed below:
| Name | Date of Plea | Sentencing Date | Sentence Imposed |
| Deontrae Walden
(23, Orlando) |
1/18/23 | 9/18/23 | 3 years, 6 months |
| Aqunis Green
(24, Houston, TX) |
5/18/23 | 9/18/23 | 18 months, consecutive to 46 months imposed on related case in Texas |
| Carlos Tawan Reed, Jr. (23, Orlando) | 11/28/22 | 3/6/23 | 4 years, 3 months |
| Wendell Harp
(24, Orlando) |
12/16/22 | 4/11/23 | 2 years, 6 months |
According to court records, Walden, Green, Reed, and Harp engaged in a spree of ATM burglaries at five Chase Bank locations in the Orlando area. During each of the burglaries, the men used a stolen pickup truck and attach chains to rip the casing from the ATM machines and steal the cash boxes inside.
In October 2022, Green came to Orlando and showed Walden how to commit the first two offenses. Together they stole $104,000 from a bank ATM on East Colonial Drive in Orlando on October 26, 2021, and $158,000 from a bank ATM on Conroy Road in Windermere on November 11, 2021. Green is currently serving a 46-month federal sentence for similar conduct in the Eastern District of Texas. His 18-month sentence has been ordered to run consecutive to that previous sentence in Texas.
On November 14 and December 18, 2021, Walden burglarized two more bank ATMs. During the November 14 offense, Walden stole $108,140 from the bank on South Semoran Boulevard in Orlando. During the December 18 burglary, Walden netted $107,180 from the bank on SR 436 in Casselberry.
In the fifth heist on May 26, 2022, Walden recruited Reed and Harp to help him burglarize the ATM located on East Colonial Drive in Orlando. They stole $116,650 but were caught by law enforcement officers who were surveilling them. Deputies from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office had pursued them on the ground and from the air. Reed failed to stop and led police on a high-speed chase, which ended when deputies deployed spike strips and disabled the car. Reed, Harp, and Walden bailed from the car and attempted to flee on foot but were quickly apprehended. The deputies recovered the stolen money from the fifth burglary from the vehicle.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the Orlando Police Department, the Casselberry Police Department, and the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael P. Felicetta.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
