A former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy was sentenced Monday to 84 months in federal prison for orchestrating and directing a $2 million armed robbery at a downtown Los Angeles warehouse, which resulted in the theft of more than half a ton of cannabis and more than $600,000 in cash.
United States District Judge Virginia A. Phillips convicted Marc Antrim, 43, of South El Monte, who was previously assigned to the LASD station in Temple City, saying, “the seriousness of the offense could not be overstated.” The heist, which the judge described as “like a movie script,” was “tragic” for the victims and undermined “the public’s confidence (in law enforcement),” according to the judge.
In March 2019, Antrim pleaded guilty to a five-count information accusing him of conspiring to sell cannabis, possessing cannabis with the intent to distribute it, conspiring to deprive rights under color of law, depriving rights under color of law, and brandishing a weapon in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Antrim and his accomplices arrived at the warehouse disguised as armed LASD deputies in a LASD Ford Explorer in the early morning hours of October 29, 2018. To gain access to the warehouse, Antrim flashed his LASD badge and a fake search warrant to the security guards. Antrim and two impostor deputies wore LASD uniforms, wore duty belts, and carried handguns to maintain the ruse that they were legitimate law enforcement officers. To further scare the guards, one of the imposters was seen carrying a long gun.
(source: US Attorney’s office)
Antrim and his accomplices arrested the three warehouse security guards in the cage of the LASD Ford Explorer at the start of the two-hour robbery. A fourth man arrived at the warehouse in a large rental truck shortly after the guards were arrested, and the four men began loading cannabis into the truck.
During the robbery, Antrim falsely claimed to be a LASD drug deputy performing a lawful search when officers from the Los Angeles Police Department responded to a request for service at the warehouse. Antrim handed his phone to one of the LAPD officers in order for the officer to speak with someone on the phone who claimed to be Antrim’s LASD sergeant. Antrim did not have a valid search warrant for the warehouse, and the person on the phone was not Antrim’s sergeant.
Other co-conspirators arrived after the LAPD officers left the warehouse, and the robbery proceeded, enabling the fictitious law enforcement team to steal even more cannabis and two large safes containing over half a million dollars in cash.
Antrim was a patrol deputy assigned to the Temple City station at the time of the robbery, but he was not on duty, was not assigned to the department’s drug unit, was not an investigator, and had no reason to search a cannabis distribution warehouse in the City of Los Angeles.
(source: US Attorney’s office)
Six co-conspirators who took part in the raid with Antrim have been convicted by prosecutors in this case.
Christopher Myung Kim, 31, of Walnut, a disgruntled former warehouse employee, was found guilty by a jury and is serving a 14-year federal prison term for his part in organizing the heist and making off with $1.5 million in stolen weed following the raid. Antrim appeared at Kim’s sentencing, which the judge credited as a major factor in Antrim’s sentence being reduced.
After pleading guilty to felony charges in this case, Kevin McBride, 45, of Glendora, and Eric Rodriguez, 35, of Adelanto, are serving federal prison terms of six and nine years, respectively. Antrim’s other co-conspirators, Matthew James Perez, 44, of Ontario, Daniel Aguilera, 33, of Los Angeles, and Jay Colby Sanford, 43, of Pomona, are serving six-year prison terms, two-year prison sentences, and five-year probation sentences, respectively, in a separate event.
(source: US Attorney’s office)
The Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives all looked into this case. The Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau of the Los Angeles Police Department aided the federal investigation significantly.
The case was investigated by Assistant United States Attorneys Lindsey Greer Dotson of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section and Joseph D. Axelrad of the Violent and Organized Crime Section.
