Alleged Ringleader of Fast-Food Chain Burglaries Pleads Guilty

Posted

A man suspected to be the ringleader of a gang of thieves accused in a string of burglaries at fast-food chains up and down the Interstate 5 corridor pleaded guilty this week to nearly a dozen felony counts.

Alexis Cardenas, 26, of Black Diamond, pleaded guilty Wednesday morning in Lewis County Superior Court to five counts of second-degree burglary, five counts of first-degree malicious mischief and one count of attempted delivery of cocaine while in custody at the Lewis County Jail.

According to defense attorney David Arcuri, Cardenas accepted a plea deal in which the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office plans to ask for a sentence of 148 months, or more than 12 years. Cardenas is scheduled to be back in Superior Court on April 20 to set a sentencing date. His sentencing is being delayed to give him time to meet the additional requirements of his plea deal, the nature of which Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead did not disclose Wednesday.

Cardenas pleaded guilty Wednesday to his role in what prosecutors have characterized as a sophisticated spree of burglaries at fast-food restaurants dating back to 2015, in which groups of suspects allegedly cut through roofs of restaurants, stole money from safes and trashed the restaurants before leaving.

The Centralia Police Department first became involved in the case on April 4, 2015, when the department received a report of a theft at Centralia’s Arby’s in the 1200 block of Belmont Avenue.

The responding officer reported finding a safe with a 5-inch by 5-inch hole cut in the side. Metal saw blades were found on the floor, according to court documents. Approximately $3,000 was stolen.

On May 28, 2015, police responded to a report of a burglary at the Centralia McDonald's in the 1200 block of Lum Road in which suspects gained access by cutting a hole in the roof, then opening the safe with the combination, stealing about $5,700.

Before leaving, the suspects allegedly put two computers in sinks and turned the water on, then sprayed a fire-extinguisher through the building.

Cardenas was in police custody on another matter at that time, but allegedly directed several other people to break into the McDonald's while he was in jail.

Cole T. Moon, 24, of Covington, pleaded guilty earlier this month to one count each of second-degree burglary and second-degree malicious mischief for that incident and was sentenced as a first-time offender to 45 days in jail with credit for 24 days served.

Cardenas allegedly asked the others to commit the burglary to get bail money for him.

On June 13, police responded to another Lewis County burglary, this time at Wendy’s on Harrison Avenue.

In that case, police found evidence on a cutting disk leading them to Cardenas, who they learned had been convicted in Pierce County for similar burglaries, most recently one in which he was arrested in 2012 while committing a burglary at a KFC in Maple Valley. He was convicted and released in 2014.

Prosecutors considered charging Cardenas with leading organized crime, but never filed that charge.

He was originally only charged with the above three crimes. However, the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office worked with Franklin and Thurston counties to add charges in two additional burglaries.

Those burglaries took place on Sept. 29, 2015 in Franklin County and February 6 of this year in Thurston County, at an Olympia Taco Bell.

Cardenas was arrested after being caught in the Taco Bell while attempting to drill a hole in a safe after cutting a hole in the building’s roof to gain access to the restaurant.

He was released on $20,000 bail in Thurston County Superior Court and arrested by the Centralia Police Department on the Lewis County cases.

He also pleaded guilty to attempting to sell cocaine while in the Lewis County Jail on February 12.

Cardenas was also suspected in a number of other burglaries at fast-food restaurants in other counties. He has previous burglary convictions.

Joaquin Armenta Jr., 24, of Covington, and Morelia V. Ayala Garcia, 19, of Centralia, have also been charged in the case. Their cases have not yet been resolved.