A man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after being convicted of larceny and exploitation of an older or vulnerable person in two separate cases.
The Washoe County District Attorney's Office announced the sentence of Francisco Cardenas in a press release. He will be eligible for parole after 10 years.
The first case began in February of 2023 when Reno Police responded to a report of grand larceny at an area convenience store.
Cardenas and a co-defendant wrapped a chain around a coin operated air compressor and pulled it from the ground before driving off with it.
The compressor was worth $2,500 and there was an estimated $500 in change inside the machine.
Detectives with the Northern Nevada Repeat Offender Program learned of two other cases involving the same defendants being caught on camera committing the same crime at other stores.
Cardenas admitted to all the thefts and eventually pled guilty to one count of grand larceny, as the thefts were combined into one case.
On April 9th of last year Reno Police responded to a report of a burglary at a self-storage facility also involving Cardenas.
The victim, a 72-year-old woman, told police that a few days prior, Cardenas had helped her move some items into her storage unit, including silver bullion cubes worth more than $35,000.
Two days after, the victim received a call that her storage unit had been broken into.
The woman told police only Cardenas knew about the cubes.
A search of local pawn shops revealed Cardenas had recently pawned five silver coins belonging to the victim.
Cardenas was detained following a traffic stop a few weeks later and confessed to the theft, pleading guilty to exploitation of an older or vulnerable person.
Prior to sentencing for these two cases Cardenas had seven felony convictions, including burglary, trafficking in a controlled substance and possession of a financial forgery laboratory.
