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Las Vegas man sentenced for Colorado Coinstar thefts

Timon - stock.adobe.com

July 20, 2026

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A Las Vegas man has been sentenced to four years in the Colorado Department of Corrections after pleading guilty to stealing more than $67,500 from Coinstar kiosks during a four-day crime spree in November 2021, according to a WesternSlopeNow report. Richard Pena, 37, burglarized 11 coin-counting kiosks in Mesa, Eagle, Adams and Jefferson counties, as well as Denver, and was ordered to pay more than $77,000 in restitution to Coinstar.

Pena posed as a Coinstar employee and used a universal key to open the machines without forcing entry, according to prosecutors. The thefts began at City Market stores in Clifton and Grand Junction before investigators linked them to similar crimes in California and other Western states. The case exposed a security vulnerability because, at the time, all U.S. Coinstar kiosks used the same key. Coinstar has since upgraded its machines with two-factor authentication.

Pena was already serving a 48-month federal prison sentence in Oregon for similar Coinstar thefts committed throughout 2021. Federal investigators said authorities recovered disguises, burglary tools and containers holding millions of stolen coins after his arrest in Washington state. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser credited cooperation among state investigators, local police and Coinstar with bringing the multistate kiosk theft case to a close.

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