Man Admits to Role in Travel Heist Ring
A man who allegedly was part of a ring that robbed a string of travel agencies in the San Fernando Valley pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.
Manuel Echeverria, 24, entered the plea in Van Nuys Municipal Court. He will be sentenced Oct. 29.
The Van Nuys resident and a co-defendant, Oswaldo Arevalo, 34, of Reseda, had been charged with felony counts of robbery and conspiracy. Arevalo’s preliminary hearing is set for Nov. 17.
The two men were arrested after they allegedly held up a Granada Hills travel agency and took blank airline tickets.
Two other suspects--Jose Rafael Figueroa, 24, and Mario Guerrero, 23--were fatally shot by members of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Special Investigations Section shortly after the Aug. 14 robbery. Police said Figueroa and Guerrero did not comply with orders to surrender.
Investigators believed that the ring was connected to at least 25 travel agency robberies, many of them in the Valley, where blank airline tickets were taken during audacious daytime holdups.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
