CHICAGO — A federal jury has convicted a Chicago resident of stealing $700,000 from a Potawatomi Indian casino in Michigan by tricking one of its employees to turn over the cash. Jesus Gaytan-Garcia, 44, found guilty of aiding and abetting interstate transportation of stolen property and theft from an Indian tribal organization, will be sentenced on April 25 in Kalamazoo.
On July 30, 2023, someone using a Cancun, Mexico, phone number called the Four Winds Casino Hartford and identified himself as “Charles Martinez,” the tribal chairman of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, an FBI agent said in a complaint against Gaytan-Garcia. “Martinez” was connected with a manager in the casino cage, the area where large amounts of cash are counted and secured.
The FBI agent alleged that while that conversation was underway, the cage manager began receiving text messages from a New Jersey phone number from a person who claimed to be her boss. The “boss” said they needed “discreet” assistance making an urgent payment within 20 minutes.
According to the FBI agent, the fake chairman and the phony boss convinced the cage manager to walk out of the casino cage with $700,000 stuffed into a Michael Kors bag. Another employee immediately reported the cash removal to casino security.
As tribal police and the casino began investigating, the cage manager drove to Gary, Indiana, while speaking with and getting directions from the “chairman,” officials said. At about 2:15 p.m., the manager stopped at a Citgo gas station in Gary and handed the money to two men who pulled up in a Chrysler Pacifica minivan.
The FBI agent’s complaint explained how authorities tracked down Gaytan-Garcia. Investigators started by searching license plate reader data from around the area for Chrysler Pacificas. They eventually found one. It was registered to Gaytan-Garcia’s wife at their home in the 5900 block of South Keeler, the agent said.
Expanding their search, investigators learned the Pacifica had traveled from Chicago to California and back between September 19 and 28, 2023. Along the way, Gaytan-Garcia and his wife were recorded on police body cameras when a Colorado State Patrol trooper stopped them for going 109 mph in a 75 mph zone.
Through various other techniques, investigators determined that a phone and a Gmail account associated with Gaytan-Garcia were used near the Citgo gas station at the time of the cash hand-off, the FBI agent said.
Armed with that information, agents secured a search warrant for Gaytan-Garcia’s home in Chicago. With the assistance of tribal law enforcement, agents raided the home last February and found a brick of $100 bills inside a safe. According to the agent, the cash was wrapped in a band stamped with the word “Hartford” and the date of the casino heist.
The agent’s complaint said Gaytan-Garcia is from Mexico and has been in the United States “without legal authorization.” And, the agent noted, the Pokagon Band’s tribal chairperson was named Rebecca Richards, not Charles Martinez.
