Sedric Louis, 32, John Davis, 34, and Martel Williams, 27, all of St. Louis, Missouri, are facing federal conspiracy charges over their alleged role in a 2024 plot to rob a Connecticut teenager of stolen Bitcoin, according to a second superseding indictment returned by a grand jury in New Haven on May 22, 2026. All three face a single count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, a Hobbs Act charge carrying up to 20 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.
Three Missouri Men Charged in Cryptocurrency Robbery Scheme @FBINewHaven @FBIStLouis https://t.co/vG2fDQQaLe
— U.S. Attorney CT (@USAO_CT) August 4, 2026
Louis and Davis have been detained since their arrest on June 25, 2026; both pleaded not guilty in Bridgeport federal court on July 30. Williams pleaded not guilty on July 17 and was released on bond. Prosecutors, per the release, stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt and that the charges remain allegations.
Rental cars, air rifles, and two days of surveillance
According to the indictment, the three men were recruited by outside coordinators to help retrieve a portion of Bitcoin stolen the prior month. Between roughly August 21 and August 24, 2024, Louis, Davis, Williams and others traveled from Missouri to Connecticut, where they picked up rental vehicles and supplies, including air rifles and walkie-talkies, before surveilling their target and his parents over two days, waiting for an opening to force their way into the family’s home.
Why they left Connecticut
The plan never reached that point. Per the DOJ’s account, the men grew concerned they’d been caught on the target’s home security cameras, and grew frustrated by a breakdown in communication with the coordinators running the operation. They left the state before making any move on the house.
A related case from the same U.S. Attorney’s office adds a specific contrast: Adam Iza, the alleged financier behind the scheme, is charged with directing the kidnapping by phone and encrypted messaging, coordinating logistics remotely. A co-defendant, Saif Faiq, is separately charged with having traveled to Connecticut to help conduct surveillance on the family. Set against that division of labor, the Missouri crew’s exit can be read as illustrating the challenges prosecutors allege arose during a remotely coordinated operation, particularly after the group became concerned about home security cameras and experienced what the indictment describes as a breakdown in communication with their co-conspirators. Whether that interpretation is borne out will depend on how the evidence develops as the case proceeds.
The Florida crew that finished what they started
A separate crew, six men from Florida, arrived in Connecticut shortly after Louis, Davis and Williams departed. On August 25, 2024, that group allegedly rear-ended the target’s parents’ Lamborghini near Danbury High School, forced the couple into a van, beat the husband with a baseball bat, dragged his wife by her hair, and bound both with duct tape before driving off. Multiple witnesses, including a passing off-duty FBI agent, alerted police. All six Florida defendants have since pleaded guilty, a resolution that runs parallel to another Hobbs Act case in which two Texas brothers admitted guilt over an $8 million crypto kidnapping and robbery.
The bigger case this sits inside
The underlying theft the plot was built around: prosecutors say the target’s son helped steal roughly $245 million in Bitcoin from a Washington, D.C. victim through an online social-engineering scheme the prior month. That son, Veer Chetal, pleaded guilty in November 2025 to fraud and money-laundering conspiracy and, according to court filings made public, is cooperating against his co-defendants. Iza pleaded guilty in June 2026 to conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery over his alleged role financing and directing the Connecticut plot. Two other alleged coordinators, James Schwab and Saif Faiq, face related federal charges in the same case.
Detained since June, out on bond since July
The case now moves into pretrial proceedings, with Louis and Davis held without bond and Williams free on release since his July arraignment, leaving the three defendants facing different pretrial circumstances.Similar threats have also drawn attention from authorities outside the U.S. France reported 77 crypto-related kidnapping cases in 2026 and introduced new security measures in response.
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