RALEIGH - United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that today in federal court, Chief United States District Judge James C. Dever III sentenced SERGIO LOPEZ REYNA, 27, to 171 months imprisonment, followed by 5 years of supervised release.
Reyna was named in an Indictment filed on July 17, 2013 charging him with Carjacking and Aiding and Abetting on Nov. 1, 2012 and Brandishing of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Crime of Violence and Aiding and Abetting on Nov. 1, 2012. On Feb. 10, 2014, REYNA pled guilty to those charges.
According to the investigation, SERGIO LOPEZ REYNA, Manuel James Estrada, Jesus Morales-Rodriguez, Luis Felipe Dominguez, and Luis Melito Arellano were involved in a carjacking in Raleigh, North Carolina. On Oct. 31, 2012, REYNA, Estrada, Morales-Rodriguez, Dominguez, and Arellano traveled to La Saona night club in Raleigh. In the early morning on Nov. 1, 2012, they identified a potential victim who was parking his vehicle outside the club. At that point, REYNA, Estrada, and Morales-Rodriguez, all brandishing firearms, confronted the victim. REYNA placed a firearm to the victim’s head and forced him back into his vehicle. Once the conspirators gained control of the victim and his vehicle, Arellano and Dominguez joined them in the vehicle. Morales-Rodriguez drove the vehicle while Arellano was in the front passenger seat. REYNA, Estrada, and Dominguez sat with the victim in the backseat. REYNA forced the victim’s head down while his face was covered with his shirt. The conspirators also stole the victim’s ring, valued at $100, and his wallet, valued at $50. A wallet belonging to the victim’s sister, valued at $56, was also taken from the vehicle during the robbery.
Dominguez, Estrada, and Arellano were previously sentenced for their involvement in this case. Luis Felipe Dominguez was sentenced on March 3, 2014 to 60 months imprisonment followed by 3 years of supervised release. Manuel James Estrada was sentenced on April 4, 2014 to 102 months imprisonment followed by 5 years of supervised release and Luis Melito Arellano was sentenced on June 4, 2014 to 168 months imprisonment followed by 3 years of supervised release. Jesus Morales-Rodriguez has not been arrested and is considered a fugitive.
This case was part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiative which encourages federal, state, and local agencies to cooperate in a unified “team effort" against gun crime, targeting repeat offenders who continually plague their communities.
Investigation of this case was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Raleigh Police Department and the Wake County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Toby W. Lathan prosecuted the case of the government.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
