A 42-year-old Cuban named Yoelvis Denis Hernández, alias “Guajiro,” was arrested in Del Rio, Texas, on a South Florida indictment that accuses him of stealing 192 US government-owned medical respirators valued at about three million dollars.
According to court documents, the ventilators were heading to a COVID-19 intensive care facility in El Salvador as part of a US government relief program when they were robbed in South Florida while in transit.
The indictment charges Hernández and Luis Urra Montero, aka “Flaco,” 24, of federal conspiracy, possession of stolen goods shipped interstate, and theft of government property.
According to the police note, on August 9, 2020, Hernández and Montero stole a trailer truck loaded with 192 medical ventilators, during its transportation by truck to the Miami International Airport.
USAID had purchased the ventilators and was shipping them to the Government of El Salvador as part of an aid program to treat critically ill COVID-19 patients there.
According to court documents, Hernández and Montero stole the trailer from a lot where the driver had left it overnight. Following an investigation, the police recovered most of the stolen ventilators.
Hernandez made his initial appearance in federal court today in the Western District of Texas. Future proceedings will take place in the Southern District of Florida, where the case is pending.
Co-defendant Montero was arrested on September 15, 2020 in the Southern District of Florida. He is being held without bail pending trial.
Juan Antonio González, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Miami Field Office, and Tom Ullom, Acting Inspector General, United States Agency for International Development, Office of the Inspector General (“USAID-OIG”), made the announcement.
The FBI, FBI Miami Grand Theft Task Force, and USAID-OIG investigated this case, with assistance from the Boynton Beach Police Department, Miami Dade Police Department, Medley Police Department, Department of Miami Gardens City Police and the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
Del Rio Customs and Border Protection and the San Antonio FBI also assisted. Assistant United States Attorney Lindsey Lazopoulos Friedman is prosecuting him.
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