Three members of a violent robbing crew that operated in Gwinnett County were sentenced to lengthy terms in federal prison Thursday.
Senior U.S. District Judge Orinda Evans sentenced the men -- Albert Espinal, 33, Johann Brito, 32, and Jose Reyes, 39 -- to 70 years, 40 years and 31 years, 8 months respectively on a list of charges, including armed robbery, drug trafficking and using a firearm while committing a felony. A jury convicted the men March 1.
U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said the three men were members of the Cartier robbery crew who "engaged in shootouts in public places, tortured victims and committed violent home invasion robberies in which at least two men were killed."
Yates said that in April 2009 Espinal, Brito and two other suspects broke into a house in Gwinnett County and tortured a man by cutting off a portion of his ear, pouring hot sauce in his eyes, dunking his head in a bath tub and pistol-whipping him in an effort to learn where drugs were hidden.
Later that day, they got into a shootout in Lawrenceville during which one of the robbers was killed.
In May 2009, Yates said, the men broke into another drug house near Duluth, tied up the resident and later shot three people who delivered cocaine to the house. They later engaged in a shootout outside the home with two drug customers, Yates said.
"These men were clearly willing to use any means necessary to further their criminal schemes," said Brock Nicholson, special agent with Homeland Security Investigations in Atlanta.
Eight other defendants are awaiting sentencing. Two suspects, Roberto Rosario and Jean Carlos Ramos, remain at large.
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