Indictments handed up in $7M heist case

The couple staked out a West Virginia safe house in advance.

STAFF/WIRE REPORT

The cases against three people accused of stealing $7.4 million from an armored car company in Liberty Township are being transferred out of West Virginia after federal indictments were handed up Wednesday in Ohio.

U.S. Magistrate Judge R. Clarke VanDervort in Beckley, W.Va., ordered Roger Dillon; his girlfriend, Nicole Boyd; and his mother, Sharon Gregory; to be returned to the Southern Regional Jail until they can be transported to Ohio.

Earlier Wednesday, a federal grand jury in Ohio’s northern district indicted Dillon, 22, and Boyd, 24, both of Boardman, and Gregory, 48, of Youngstown, on one count each of conspiracy to steal money from a bank; conspiracy to transport stolen property across state lines; and transporting and aiding and abetting in that transportation.

Boyd whispered, “I love you,” to Dillon before the 20-minute hearing began in Beckley. She also wept as she turned to her father sitting in the courtroom and said, “I’m sorry.”

The grand jury indictment filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio Eastern Division detailed how the conspiracy to steal the money played out, including aliases used by the trio during the time it took to make off with the funds.

Dillon is said to have used the alias Michael Weaver. Boyd is said to have gone much further using the aliases Samantha Capeli, Nicole Stuckey, Nicki Boyd and Nicki Stuckey.

According to the indictment, sometime in October, Dillon and Boyd traveled to Pipestem, W.Va., to look for and obtain a safe house.

Boyd and Dillon in November approached a used-car dealer in the Youngstown area about buying a 1989 GMC Safari van. The van was the second vehicle FBI agents were looking to catch the couple driving. Initially, agents were looking for a purple pickup truck.

According to the indictment, Dillon’s mother, Sharon Gregory, asked the car dealer to remove the rear seats of the Safari van. She then traveled to Pipestem to wait for Boyd and Dillon.

Dillon, the indictment says, obtained a co-worker’s identification to enter the AT Systems building, but he did not enter the facility alone. Boyd, the indictment says, entered the building and helped Dillon remove the cash.

Police were first alerted to the theft by two AT Systems employees who were charged with making a money run to Cleveland. They returned to find two safes in the building empty and security tapes missing. The alarm to the building had been reset.

The FBI alleges the three stole more than $7 million from Dillon’s employer, Armored Transportation Systems of Liberty, last week. They were captured Saturday at a mobile home across the Ohio border in Pipestem.

Federal agents say the business was targeted because it would have large amounts of money on hand after the busy post-Thanksgiving holiday shopping weekend. Dillon had been employed by the company for about nine months as a driver/messenger.