5 A.V. MEN SENTENCED IN ARMORED-TRUCK HEIST $1.2 MILLION WAS TAKEN OUTSIDE BANK IN LANCASTER.

Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO Staff Writer

LANCASTER -- Five Lancaster men accused in a $1.2 million heist of an armored truck outside a Lancaster Boulevard bank pleaded guilty or no contest Thursday to grand theft charges and were sentenced to prison.

Two of the defendants worked as guards for the Sylmar-based armored truck firm and were described by investigators as the masterminds who persuaded three of their friends to commit the early morning Aug. 29 theft.

``This is a very good disposition. You steal over a million dollars, you have to go to prison,'' Deputy District Attorney Guy Shirley said. ``These were otherwise pretty decent people. They don't have extensive records or anything like that. It was good for both sides.''

Charged in the incident were Elder Cortez, 23; Lawrence Lacusong, 26; brothers Arturo and Fernando Acosta, 22 and 23, respectively; and Robert Rice, 22.

Authorities said Cortez and Lacusong were employees of the armored truck company.

Cortez pleaded guilty and Lacusong no contest to grand theft and were each sentenced to three years and four months in prison.

The Acosta brothers and Rice pleaded no contest to grand theft and were each sentenced to two years in prison.

All but $89,658 of the stolen money was recovered, and the defendants are responsible for paying that amount back, Shirley said.

The theft took less than 30 seconds and occurred while the armored car, staffed by a driver and two guards, was making its rounds servicing Washington Mutual banks in the area, sheriff's deputies said.

While the two guards were inside the bank, two men wearing similar uniforms approached the truck and used a signal knock to get the driver to open an electric door lock. Without the driver realizing that the men were imposters, they took the money and disappeared before the real guards emerged from the bank.

The driver initially was arrested but was not charged, deputies said.

The driver thought he opened the door for his actual co-workers, deputies said.

Authorities alleged that the Acosta brothers were the two men who posed as guards and that Rice was driving the car in which they fled.

Detectives were able to narrow the location of the theft down to the Lancaster branch after it was determined that money taken from previous stops was missing, deputies said.

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com

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