3 sentenced after stealing $150K from armored truck in Ellenton robbery, prosecutors say
The final member of a group that ambushed and robbed an armored truck of over $150,000 is set to spend over a decade in prison, prosecutors say.
Jorge Serrano Espinoza, a 20-year-old from Clearwater, was sentenced to 11 years and 3 months in federal prison on robbery and firearm charges, according to a news release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
The Bradenton Herald previously reported that a federal jury found Espinoza guilty during a September 2024 trial.
On June 9, 2023, prosecutors say Espinoza and two accomplices, James Battle Jr. and Carlos Keanu Smith, followed an armored truck from Pinellas County to the One9 Travel Center gas station and truck stop at 5215 17th St. E, Ellenton.
As the GardaWorld employee returned from picking up a deposit, prosecutors say Battle and Smith approached with pistols drawn, forcing the man to the ground, taking his keys and removing “several bags” from the vehicle.
The men stole more than $150,000 from the armored truck before fleeing the scene, according to an arrest report.
Prosecutors say Espinoza acted as the lookout, monitoring the driver at an earlier stop on his route. He also provided the guns used in the robbery and warned his accomplices when the driver attempted to reach for his firearm, the Bradenton Herald previously reported.
Surveillance and traffic cameras captured the group trailing the armored truck through multiple stops before the heist, investigators said.
Florida Department of Transportation toll records also show the vehicle following seconds behind the armored truck along its route that morning, according to a news release.
Battle, a former GardaWorld employee, had been investigated in a previous case involving the theft of $173,000 in 2022, according to an arrest report. Detectives said Battle used his “personal knowledge of the inner workings of GardaWorld” to commit the robbery.
Four days after the robbery, Clearwater police arrested Battle after a witness reported seeing a man attaching a silencer to a pistol inside a black Chevrolet Equinox matching the suspects’ vehicle, according to an arrest report. Investigators say they later linked his phone records to the location of the heist.
Court records show Battle and Smith both previously pleaded guilty for their roles in the robbery, with Battle sentenced to 10 years in federal prison and Smith sentenced to 9 years in prison.
