An Albuquerque man has been sentenced to 26 years in federal prison for a home invasion and robbing a bank. Officials say 36-year-old Marc Candelaria committed these crimes to fuel his gambling addiction.
On September 14, 2021, Candelaria staged a home invasion at his father-in-law’s house. He was helped by an unknown accomplice who pretended to be an intruder.
The intruder entered the home late at night and forced the father-in-law to try and open a safe at gunpoint. When the safe couldn’t be opened, the intruder made the father-in-law write a check for $23,000.
After the invasion, Candelaria’s father-in-law, identified in court documents as John Doe, was brutally beaten and lost consciousness due to serious head injuries.
He was found the next day by his daughter and taken to the hospital in critical condition.
Candelaria tried to deposit the check in his bank account, but the bank noticed different handwriting on the check and alerted Doe’s wife about the possible fraud.
On October 30, Candelaria robbed a Bank of America branch using a handwritten note threatening cartel violence. The bank teller gave Candelaria money from his register.
According to the source, investigations revealed that Candelaria committed these crimes to fund his gambling addiction.
Between 2020 and May 2022, he visited a local casino around 169 times, losing large sums of money.
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Candelaria was convicted of bank fraud by a federal jury on March 27, 2024. He later entered a plea agreement for the bank robbery charge on April 10.
After his release from prison, Candelaria will be under supervised release for five years.