Massive money heist fails due to weight of cash: "Extremely dumb" say cops; former Colorado football star arrested
Devin Aguilar, a Colorado high school all-state football star who went on to a standout career at the University of Washington and a brief NFL career, was released from the Arapahoe County Jail last month after serving less than a year behind bars for an armed $1.2 million cash heist that police investigators say was like something out of a Hollywood movie.
"It was orchestrated perfectly. He knew exactly what he was doing," said Arapahoe County Sheriff investigations Sgt. Brett Cohn, referring to the 2021 heist that has not been reported on until now.
"There's no such thing as the perfect crime," said Cohn. "This was definitely not the perfect crime," Cohn observed. "It's 100% an inside job."
According to police reports, interviews, court transcripts and videos of the robbery obtained by CBS News Colorado, on Dec. 1, 2021, Aguilar, 35, armed with a gun, secretly followed a cash transport van as it pulled into an Arapahoe County business that transports and holds money for marijuana businesses around the state. The van driver had no idea anyone had followed her into the businesses' garage that night. She was carrying $1,224,785.37 in cash in the van.
On surveillance video, Aguilar, dressed head-to-toe in black and wearing gloves and a mask, is seen surprising the van driver and holding her at gunpoint. He has her fill two large black plastic trash bags with cash. At one point, the van driver said Aguilar cocked the pistol. Within minutes, Aguilar runs from the garage carrying the bags of cash.
But Cohn says there was one problem: "He couldn't carry the money. It was too heavy for him. They didn't calculate the weight," observed Cohn.
After the transport driver called 911, Arapahoe County deputies found the two trash bags abandoned under a tree, about 700 yards from the business.
Aguilar had vanished into the night, but made another crucial mistake. The gloves he wore during the robbery were found stashed in one of the trash bags.
Cohn said an analysis of the gloves yielded Aguilar's DNA, which was already on file with law enforcement as Aguilar had allegedly been involved in an earlier burglary in Adams County.
"Extremely dumb," said Cohn. "You can plan meticulously for six months but there were clearly mistakes made."
It didn't take long for investigators to conclude it was an inside job, and connect Aguilar to an employee of the cash transport business. Fawn Huya, 54, was the lead teller at the cash transport business, and would later admit to investigators that she had an intimate relationship with Aguilar. She claimed she had no idea Aguilar planned to rob the business, but investigators found Aguilar's detailed plans and sketches for the heist on Huya's phone. They said Huya used her phone to videotape the business in an attempt to help Aguilar with the heist.
Huya, who had no criminal record before this case, declined to be interviewed by CBS News Colorado. Aguilar also declined an interview request.
Investigators said Huya repeatedly lied to them about her involvement in the case and her connection to Aguilar. She eventually agreed to a plea bargain and pled guilty to armed robbery. She was sentenced to six months in jail and 6 years probation.
Prosecutors agreed to a plea bargain allowing Aguilar to plead guilty to felony theft and felony aggravated robbery, and asked the judge to sentence Aguilar to 15-20 years in prison.
"I don't think the Court should, based on everything that the Court now has in front of it, put the defendant (Aguilar) back into the community to continue to harm," said prosecutor Elizabeth Desits, at sentencing.
Instead, Judge Joseph Whitfield sentenced Aguilar to one year in jail and nine years probation. Aguilar served less than seven months of his one year jail term.
Cohn told CBS News Colorado, "We are disappointed in the sentencing. It is not what we believe the suspect deserved and we do not believe that the victims got the justice for the crime that was committed against them."
The Chief Communications Officer of the cash transport business wrote, "We are very disappointed with the sentencing outcome of this case. Disappointed but not surprised," and he suggested the judge was "soft on crime. We still rely on our justice system and hope that justice is equitable and appropriate for all involved parties ... But I think that hope is fading."
The clerk who was robbed at gunpoint says she has "suffered panic attacks and paranoia" since the robbery.
She said she is in therapy now for "daily anxiety" and has installed security cameras at her home.
"I believe his current sentence is not adequate" she wrote, and that Aguilar "will escalate" without a harsher sentence.
Messages left for Judge Whitfield at his office were not returned.
The heist and subsequent jail time for Devin Aguilar are a marked departure from his high school years in Colorado. He was a star receiver for Mullen high school, leading the football team to three straight 5A state title appearances. He went on to play wide receiver for the Washington Huskies from 2008 to 2011 where he ended up ranked number seven in Huskies history for career receptions and receiving yards.
Aguilar played briefly for the NFL's Tennessee Titans in 2012, appearing in at least one preseason game before apparently being dropped by the team.
CBS News Colorado contacted half a dozen of Aguilar's former Colorado high school teammates and coaches. None were aware that Aguilar had been arrested and done jail time this year.
At sentencing, Stephen McCrohan, Aguilar's attorney, said, "He's embarrassed that he let his family down, that he let his community down, that he let himself down by doing something that was out of his character."
Aguilar spoke to the Judge saying, "... I'm taking full accountability. I was ashamed, but I'm no longer ashamed for accountability has been taken ... I'm ready for another opportunity."
