Masterminds Convicted In CUHeists

TEMPE, Ariz. - (07/07/05) -- Two California men were found guiltylast month of engineering two interstate armed robberies at localcredit unions in 2002 that netted almost $300,000. The two men,Jonathan Hunter and Derrick McCreary, masterminded the two heistsfrom their Los Angeles base by scouting out the credit unions, thenrecruiting Los Angeles gang members to serve as the gunmen, withoutparticipating in the robberies themselves, according toprosecutors. The two were found guilty of planning a January 2002hold-up at Tempe Schools FCU when $182,293 was stolen, as well as arobbery a month later at Safeway FCU when $106,470 was taken.McCreary traveled to Tempe to sketch out the credit union floorplans and Hunter enlisted the gang members, then they drove themacross the desert the night before the robberies. In the hoursbefore the hold-ups the two would steal a getaway car. The twocriminal masterminds used text messages transmitted over cellphones to communicate their plans, some of which were used asevidence to convict them.