Missouri – Two Venezuelan men are facing federal charges in Missouri for allegedly being part of a sophisticated scheme to steal money from ATMs in several cities, resulting in the loss of tens of thousands of dollars.
A federal grand jury charged 22-year-old Berny Alberson Meza-Rojas and 31-year-old Anthony Brijan Sorondo with one count of conspiracy to commit bank larceny on June 4, 2025. Both men appeared in U.S. District Court in St. Louis and pleaded not guilty during their initial court proceedings.
The indictment says that the two individuals, together with some unnamed accomplices, utilized a practice called “jackpotting” to get ATMs to give them enormous amounts of cash. According to investigators, the group messed with a number of ATMs in Missouri, which let them override the machines’ systems and make unlawful cash withdrawals.
The trio is said to have taken out more than $11,000 from machines in Bloomsdale and Herculaneum on March 27. It was stated that more than $70,000 was taken from ATMs in O’Fallon, Festus, Ste. Genevieve, and Cape Girardeau just a few days later, during March 29 and March 30.
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A federal detention motion in the case says that Meza-Rojas and Sorondo are both in the country illegally and have been linked to similar jackpotting events in Iowa and Kentucky. Prosecutors are seeking to have both men held without bond, citing concerns about flight risk and the scope of their activities across state lines.
If found guilty, the two may spend up to five years in prison, pay a fine of up to $250,000, or both.
The FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, and police departments from the affected areas all took part in the investigation. The case also got help from the Ste. Genevieve County Sheriff’s Office. The federal case is being handled by Justin Ladendorf, a prosecutor from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
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Authorities have not said if they are looking for more suspects in connection with the larger plot, but the investigation is still going on.
