Robber pleads guilty to stealing from Las Cruces bank

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KVIA) -- Bank robber Daniel Guereca faces up to 20 years in federal prison for robbing the PNC Bank in Las Cruces and the U.S. Bank in Los Lunas. Guereca pleaded guilty to bank robbery in federal court.

Court documents state that Guereca robbed the Los Lunas bank on February 12, 2025. He passed a handwritten demand note to two tellers and got away with $6,000. Breanne Gallegos, 29, drove the getaway car and had written the demand note, federal prosecutors say.

Then eight days later, on February 20, 2025, Guereca robbed the Las Cruces bank, located on the 3800 block of East Lohman Avenue. Again, Guereca passed another handwritten note, which claimed he was armed, and demanded $20,000. The teller handed over $3,313, according to federal prosecutors. That time, Aarika Cuevas, 35, was in the getaway car. Cuevas had written this demand note, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors also say that Cuevas had entered the bank a few minutes before the robbery to assess the feasibility of a robbery.

Investigators used fingerprint analysis on the note left behind at the Las Cruces bank to identify Guereca. Gallegos pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank robbery and faces up to five years in federal prison. Cuevas is facing one count of conspiracy to commit bank robbery.