SANTA ANA - Four men were convicted and sentenced yesterday for a $400,000 conspiracy to steal Automated Teller Machines (ATM) using two stolen trucks and a stolen forklift.

Richard Dwayne Bockman, 43, Yucca Valley, Ricky Joe Coffey, 44, Orange, Curtis Edward Weber, 38, Anaheim, and Charles Earl Roberts, 41, Riverside, pleaded guilty to a court offer Jan. 24, 2012, over the objection of the People, who argued for greater prison sentences based on the seriousness, sophistication, and pre-planning of the crimes.

Roberts was sentenced to three years in state prison, Coffey and Weber were sentenced to seven years in state prison, and Bockman was sentenced to 10 years in state prison.

All four defendants pleaded guilty to four felony counts of grand theft, two felony counts each of arson, commercial burglary, and vandalism, and one felony count each of conspiracy to commit an unlawful taking of a motor vehicle, conspiracy to commit grand theft, conspiracy to commit arson, and the unlawful taking of a motor vehicle. They admitted to the sentencing enhancements for causing over $200,000 in loss.

Coffey admitted to additional sentencing enhancements and allegations for having a prior unlawful taking of a motor vehicle conviction in 1994, for being convicted and imprisoned on two separate occasions and not remaining free for a period of five years for a 1994 conviction for possession of stolen property and a 2005 conviction for identity theft, and for crime-bail-crime, meaning that he was out of custody on bail on another criminal case at the time of this crime.

Bockman pleaded guilty to additional felony counts including one count each of attempted grand theft, vandalism and the unlawful taking of a motor vehicle. He admitted to the sentencing enhancements and allegations for being convicted and imprisoned on six separate occasions and not remaining free for five years for 1992 and 1996 unlawful taking of a motor vehicle convictions, transportation of methamphetamine in 1995, possession of substances to manufacture drugs in 1999, and possession of methamphetamine and possession of stolen property in 2005, and for crime-bail-crime.

Weber pleaded guilty to an additional felony count for the possession of methamphetamine for sale. He admitted to sentencing enhancements and allegations for a prior conviction for possession of methamphetamine for sale in 2004, being convicted and imprisoned on five separate occasions and not remaining free for a period of five years for possession of methamphetamine convictions in 1997, 1999, 2001, and 2003, and two separate crime-bail-crimes.

Circumstances of the Conspiracy
Between May 30, 2009, and May 1, 2010, the defendants committed four ATM thefts using stolen pick-up trucks, a box truck, and a forklift. The thefts of the ATMs and trucks occurred in the Cities of Aliso Viejo, Anaheim, Fullerton, Long Beach, and Yorba Linda.

In each case, the defendants drove in a stolen truck early in the morning to businesses where ATMs, primarily School First Federal Credit Union ATMs, were free-standing or anchored into the ground with concrete. The defendants used a pallet jack or stolen forklift to move the ATM from the store into the back of the box truck and then fled the scene. In one case, Bockman attempted to steal an ATM on his own, but abandoned the ATM in the back of a stolen pick-up truck in the parking lot, leaving the cash and contents inside.

On May 1, 2010, the defendants left the stolen box truck in a Home Depot parking lot in Orange and set fire to the inside. They burned the truck and an ATM that had been left inside to destroy the evidence and fled the scene.

Many of the thefts were captured on store surveillance videos. In all, the defendants stole over $400,000 in money and property including the ATM cash, check deposits, and machines, two vehicles, and the forklift.

Arrest of the Defendants
On May 3, 2010, Bockman was arrested at Morongo Casino Resort & Spa after being linked through DNA on cash at a crime scene. At the time of his arrest, Bockman was in possession of over $19,000 in cash.

On May 4, 2010, Weber and Coffey were arrested at a hotel in Orange. Coffey was in possession of $3,000 cash and a Harley Davidson motorcycle he had purchased using stolen money. Weber was in possession of $2,000 cash, prescription pills, drug paraphernalia, and over 20 grams of methamphetamine.

The Orange County District Attorney's Office filed charges related to some of the thefts on May 6, 2010, and the investigation continued. A warrant was issued for the arrest of Roberts. Roberts was arrested on the warrant at his sister's house in Orange on June 10, 2010. At the time of his arrest, he was in possession of a Harley Davidson motorcycle he had purchased using stolen money.

The two motorcycles, $25,000 in cash, and the abandoned property from the attempted ATM theft were recovered. Most of the stolen cash and property have not been recovered or was destroyed in the arson.

This case was investigated by the police departments in the Cities of Anaheim, Brea, Fullerton, and Orange, the Orange and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Departments, the Orange Fire Department, and the Orange County Crime Lab.

Senior Deputy District Attorney John Christl of the Special Prosecutions Unit prosecuted this case.