Peabody Man Indicted In 15 Boston-Area Armed Holdups

BOSTON, MA -- The U.S. Attorneys Office in Boston charged Luis Cintron, 39, of Peabody, 15 counts of interfering with commerce by robbery and one count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. Investigators say Cintron and a still-at-large accomplice robbed 15 markets in greater Boston last winter. Cintron and his accomplice allegedly robbed markets in Peabody East Boston, Lynn, Chelsea, Everett and Malden between Dec. 28 and Feb. 15.

A January 24 robbery of Two Brothers Market in East Boston in which the pair made off with $2,000 may have been the crucial misstep by the duo. Police identified a late model, silver Nissan Murano using footage from a nearby surveillance camera. That was matched to a vehicle see at other robberies. When the car was tracked to an Enterprise car rental agency in Lynn, police recovered a 9 mm shell casing that they were able to match to a casing that had been discharged during a Jan. 8 robbery of a Lynn store.

Using footage from the car rental company, police were able to identify Cintron. On March 9 at 9:35 pm state police pulled Cintron over on Route 16 in Everett when they observed him driving and texting. A search of the car turned up cocaine, a knife and a 9 mm pistol.

In January, Peabody police investigated two convenience store robberies in a 24-hour period. Two men wearing masks and brandishing handguns robbed a Peabody convenience store at 6:30 pm on Jan. 11. The robbery of Michelle's Market on 85 Main Street came less than 24 hours after a lone gunman robbed a 7-Eleven at 115 Main Street and stole about $200. Police do not know if the two robberies are related.

Each charge of interfering with commerce by robbery provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. The charge of discharging a firearm during a violent crime provides for a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years and up to life in prison, to be served consecutive with any other sentence imposed, five years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Subscribe to Peabody Patch for more local news and real-time alerts.

Patch file photo.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).