A man connected to a crime group that stole cars and used them to burglarize more than 40 marijuana dispensaries across the Denver area was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Monday, Denver prosecutors said.
Genero Zuniga, 21, took a deal and pleaded guilty this week to three felony charges, including one count of violating Colorado’s Organized Crimes Act, one count of second-degree burglary and one count of robbery, according to court records.
Zuniga was arrested in December and charged in connection to five armed robberies, 21 burglaries and 11 attempted burglaries — most of them of marijuana dispensaries, according to the Denver District Attorney’s Office.
The plea deal dropped 84 additional charges from Zuniga’s case, including multiple counts of burglary, attempted burglary, theft, criminal mischief, robbery, menacing, kidnapping and motor vehicle theft, court records show.
Zuniga was one of 23 people in two organized crime groups who were arrested for stealing cars and using them to burglarize marijuana dispensaries, federal firearms licensees and other businesses between September 2022 and November 2023, according to Denver prosecutors.
The two groups allegedly burglarized more than 40 marijuana dispensaries and stole nearly $800,000 in cash and property, the District Attorney’s Office said.
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