THE movie Oceans Eleven inspired a Fil-Am to steal more than $1.5 million from an Indian Casino, according to his attorney.
Rolando Luda Ramos, 27, is accused of masterminding a million dollar heist at the Soboba Casino in the Inland Empire two years ago.
This week Ramos and getaway driver Eric Alan Magdale Aguilera criminal trial got underway in the Inland Empire.
Ramos and Aguilera are charged with more than 10 felonies, including kidnapping, robbery, burglary, and false imprisonment.
According to the Riverside Press Enterprise, Ramos attorney Richard Briones-Colman described the Fil-Am "a nerdy guy who makes dumb jokes" and had watched Ocean’s 11 about 50 times before the heist.
Ramos had joked with Aguilera about hatching such a robbery while working as a security guard and surveillance technician, processing millions of dollars daily, Briones-Colman said.
Sheriff officials arrested Ramos at a hotel near LAX a few days after the heist.
Officials allege that during the robbery, Ramos ordered ten employees inside the vault.
He hog-tied and gagged several of the employees, and pepper sprayed at least one person before running off with an estimated $1.5 million of cash inside a black duffel bag.
( Published on June 26, 2009 in Asian Journal New York p. 2 )
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