yea i saw that s**t on the news like a year ago.... theyre called " the take over bandits"
Takeover Bandit gets 40 years in plea deal
Bank robber led police on shootout through Richardson, Plano
12:13 AM CDT on Friday, April 22, 2005
By TIARA M. ELLIS / The Dallas Morning News
SHERMAN – One of the Takeover Bandits pleaded guilty Thursday to his role in a traveling shootout with police through Richardson and Plano last year.
Guadalupe Mercado Fajardo, 32, pleaded guilty to eight federal charges and is expected to also plead guilty to state charges.
Mr. Fajardo will serve 40 years in federal prison for bank robbery, carjacking and using weapons during the crimes, according to the plea agreement. He has no chance for parole in the federal case.
"Instead of taking a chance at the unknown, we decided to take this option," said Mr. Fajardo's attorney, Paul Johnson, adding that his client would serve the majority of his time in federal prison. "He had so much exposure with all these cases."
The federal plea agreement has Mr. Fajardo serving 35 years and 40 years concurrently. Mr. Johnson said he expects his client will face a life sentence from state charges to include attempted capital murder, aggravated robbery and carjacking. A state sentence exceeding 40 years would be served in state prison.
Mr. Fajardo, 32, was the first of the notorious gang of robbers to be arrested and convicted. The gang has eluded authorities for years, FBI officials said. Its members are suspected in as many as 60 armed robberies, including more than six bank heists since 2002.
Mr. Fajardo admitted using an AK-47 assault weapon to rob American First National Bank in Richardson before shooting at police officers during the car chase that followed on Nov. 4, according to documents filed in federal court.
Mr. Fajardo named two accomplices in his confession, and authorities said he is cooperating in their investigation of the group.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Stover said officials believe the Takeover Bandits are not well organized, but mobilize for specific heists by selecting various recruits.
"We don't know how far- reaching or how big the list is or even if it's morphing into something else," Mr. Stover said. "But as far as getting these three, we feel we have the ones who have done a significant number of cases in the Dallas area."
FBI agents, with the help of Richardson and Plano police, have connected brothers Roberto Gavina Jr., 24, and Ramon Gavina, 22, to the shootout and carjackings. The men were indicted this year and face multiple federal charges.
Roberto Gavina was arrested at a Mesquite apartment complex after authorities said he tried to run over agents serving an arrest warrant in January. Ramon Gavina was arrested in March in Mexico, about 20 miles from the Texas border.
Mr. Fajardo said he and the Gavina brothers entered the bank wearing dark-colored coats, gloves, ski masks and guns. He said Roberto and Ramon Gavina took $11,000 from the bank, according to court documents.
The three men drove north on Central Expressway and noticed an off-duty police officer in an unmarked police vehicle and began shooting at him. The officer had not known about the robbery.
Other police officers took up the chase. Mr. Fajardo and Roberto Gavina shot at officers out the back window of their getaway car, Mr. Fajardo told officials in the court documents.
The men abandoned their getaway vehicle and carjacked three motorists to escape from officers.
No one was shot in the melee. But the display of automatic gunfire on a major highway and through suburban neighborhoods demonstrated how outgunned local police officers were. Multiple police vehicles were disabled by the heavy gunfire. Since the shootout, several local departments have beefed up their arsenals and changed policies about which officers can carry semiautomatic rifles.
On Nov. 6, Mr. Fajardo was arrested after walking into a West Texas police station. A Richardson police detective helping the FBI has testified that investigators linked Mr. Fajardo's DNA to evidence recovered from an airbag in one of the carjacked vehicles.
Mr. Stover said authorities expect to use Mr. Fajardo to verify information and leads during their investigation of the group.
"He's going to be in prison for a very long time. Parole is a possibility but not a probability."
just a thought