CBS 5 - KPHO Bank holdup foiled; 3 U.S. Marine Corps reservists arrested

The FBI's local bank robbery task force apparently foiled a movie-like plan to rob a downtown Phoenix bank using an inside man.

Three Marine Corps reservists were arrested. Ryan J. Ferraro, 20; Matthew J. Gattis, 22; and Nestor D. Astorga-Villegas, 20; all of Phoenix, were indicted this week of conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery and use of a firearm during a crime of violence and aiding and abetting. Astorga-Villegas has been detained pending trial.

The indictment alleges that, on or about Aug. 8 to Aug. 10, the trio devised a detailed plan to carry out an armed bank robbery, including securing firearms to be used in the robbery, maps of the bank, and creating disguises, at the Wells Fargo Bank branch at 455 N. Third St.

On Thursday, Aug. 4, 2011, a confidential source tipped off authorities that Ferraro was planning to rob a bank in which he has a friend who works inside. The source said Ferraro had scouted the bank on several occasions in order to determine the layout, the number of security cameras, the security camera angles of vision and number of employees, according to FBI and police paperwork.

Ferraro went on to explain that his banker friend could provide the number of employees working at any given time, location of the alarm buttons, any and all security devices, and the days and times when the bank would be stock with a large amount of money, documents stated.

The informant provided specific details of the planned holdup as told by Ferraro. At about 10 minutes before the bank was to close, the robber was to walk into the branch. The manager would be in the back room with the safe open and the inside man would be at the teller station.

According to documents, Ferraro told the informant that he had constructed a T-shirt disguise which the robber would use to over his face. After entering the bank, the robber would step to one side and into a blind spot, out of view from the security cameras. Once in the blind pot, the robber would put on the T-shirt disguise. The robber would then lock the front door and escort the inside man, who would be posing as a victim, into the back room, according to documents.

In the back room, the robber would stand both of the employees up and take their cell phones and then empty a backpack that the robber would bring with him, Ferraro told the informant according to the documents. The backpack, which Ferraro would supply, would have zipties formed into handcuffs inside and would serve as the receptacle. The robber, while brandishing a handgun to be supplied by Ferraro, would instruct the employees to fill the backpack with money, documents said.

After the employees finished loading the backpack with money, the robber would instruct them to put zip ties on their hands and feet. The robber would then tighten the zip ties and leave the bank. The robber would then exit to the vehicle where Ferraro would be waiting, documents said.

After obtaining the name and location of the bank in question, investigators said they contacted the Wells Fargo Bank corporate security personnel. They obtained a list of all employees. The branch is small, with only two male employees. One of those male employees was identified as Astorga-Villegas, according to court documents.

Investigators obtained an MVD record for him. He was found to fit the physical description of the inside man, documents said. Investigators also checked the publicly-accessible portion of Facebook account under the name of Ryan Ferraro and found Nestor was listed as a friend to Ferraro.

On Aug. 9, an undercover FBI agent contacted Ferraro. During their conversation, Ferraro told the agent that he could get the agent some security guard uniforms from the same company which patrols the Arizona Center, documents said. Ferraro then pointed out the Wells Fargo Bank and told the agent that he had floor plans to the interior of the bank, documents said. He went on to describe the layout of the bank along with information that the vault door would be open. He stated the bank did not have security devices and the drawers utilize a two key operation in order to get them open, court paperwork said.

Ferraro then described how the agent was to use the disguise that he had created, the amount of time needed to complete the robbery and he further told the agent that he could rough up and pepper spray the inside guy along with any other employees, court documents said. As the meeting concluded, Ryan pointed out the location where he would be parked in the getaway vehicle and waiting while the agent committed the robbery, documents said.

On Aug. 10, the agent met with Ferraro at the Tempe Market Place shopping center inside Ferraro's black Nissan Pathfinder. During this meeting, Ferraro gave the agent a backpack of items to be used in the robbery. Ferraro also introduced the agent to the owner of the guns and the getaway car, documents said. The owner drove up right next to the Pathfinder in a white Ford Ranger pickup. Ferraro told the agent that Matt had supplied, in the backpack, a pair of green in-frame sunglasses with orange shooting lenses, documents said.

During the meeting, Gattis and Ferraro said they would be removing two distinguishing stickers from the pickup truck. Then they would replace the stickers with identical news ones right after the robbery, documents said. Ferraro also showed the agent the license plate that would be on the pickup truck. He told the agent he found it while working security and to save it for a rainy day. However, Ferraro also said they might go look for another white Ford Ranger and steal its plate, court documents stated.

A search of the backpack at police headquarters revealed a loaded Glock .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun, a loaded Hellcat .380 caliber semi-automatic handgun, flex cuffs, zip ties, two shirts, along with a template shirt to be used to create a disguise, a pair of sunglasses with orange lenses and hand-drawn maps depicting the layout of the bank along with the route to use.

On Aug. 11, Ferraro was taken into custody at his workplace by members of the FBI violent crimes squad. He was transported to Phoenix Police Department headquarters.

Copyright 2011 KPHO. All rights reserved.