Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that GIBRON LOPEZ and JUDIE OLIVERA were convicted in Manhattan federal court yesterday of Hobbs Act robbery and Hobbs Act robbery conspiracy charges stemming from their commission of a May 2012 home invasion robbery of victim Miles Klein, which resulted in Klein’s death. LOPEZ and OLIVERA were convicted after a one-and-a-half week trial before U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla.
According to the Indictment, other filings in Manhattan federal court, and the evidence admitted at trial:
In May 2012, OLIVERA, who had a preexisting relationship with Klein, set up a home invasion robbery, which targeted Klein’s drugs and drug proceeds. OLIVERA recruited LOPEZ and another man to commit the robbery. On May 15, 2012, OLIVERA gained access to Klein’s apartment in the Bronx, and LOPEZ and the other man, armed with a wrench and a rubber mallet, respectively, followed her there. LOPEZ and the other man struggled with Klein at the door, striking him in the head repeatedly with the wrench and the mallet, binding his eyes and mouth with duct tape, and gagging him. During the assault, OLIVERA stole a safe containing cash, among other items, from Klein’s apartment. LOPEZ and the other man then dragged Klein’s body to the bathroom, where they left him. They discarded the murder weapons and their bloody clothes in a sewer, and later split the proceeds of the robbery. Police responded to the scene on May 16, 2012, after receiving a 911 call from concerned family members. Klein was ultimately pronounced dead as a result of blunt force trauma to his head and obstruction of his airway.
LOPEZ, 37 and OLIVERA, 39, both of the Bronx, were each convicted of one count of Hobbs Act robbery, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and one count of Hobbs Act robbery conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.
