STAFF REPORTS
(Photo Courtesy: LA County Sheriff’s Department)
Diamond Bar – Three Inland Empire men already incarcerated for stealing millions of dollars are now facing new federal charges based upon information recently derived regarding two more burglaries.
Laurentiu Penescu, 39, of Yucaipa; Lucian Gabriel Isaia, 33 of Beaumont; and Alceu Johnny Andreis, 46, of Banning, are currently serving various federal prison terms from three to four-plus years for cutting through building roofs with power tools to gain access inside cement bank vaults. A BBCN Bank in Diamond Bar was burglarized in 2012, and the group failed to break in to a Citibank branch, also in Diamond Bar, in 2013. They also hit an East West bank in Rowland Heights in 2011.
The trio pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank burglary and attempted bank burglary in January, although this is not the first time that they have served time for this type of crime. Prosecutors have stated that almost ten years ago they were convicted of a series of rooftop heists in Riverside County, stealing more than $3.5 million in cash and gems
If convicted of new charges, Penescu, Isaia and Andreis will spend decades in prison. Also convicted in this case are Dean Muniz, 47, of Fontana – who is serving ten years; and Daniel Soto, 38, of Riverside, who is awaiting sentence.
