According to NBC News, a man in Birmingham, Alabama was found guilty of stealing $196,000 in quarters by using his position in Brink’s armored transport service. US Attorney Joyce White Vance and the FBI’s Special Agent in Charge, Roger C. Stanton, announced that Stephen Dennis, age 49, has agreed to plead guilty to this action. He also must repay the money he stole.

Dennis is from Harpersville, Alabama. He was the processing manager for the Brink’s Birmingham branch. According to CNN, Dennis had replaced coins with beads in bags that belong to the Federal Reserve Coin Inventory. In April 2014, four bags were full of beads and only $1,000 in quarters. Dennis strategically placed the quarters so they would be visible when officials walked by the plastic window.

The FBI still has not provided a motive for why Dennis stole the coins. For all we know, he just has a weakness for arcade games! The question I keep asking myself is: how does someone get away with 9,800 pounds in quarters? That is nearly 5 tons! The Department of Justice’s news release is unclear on how Dennis was able to get the coins out.

As HMSA students, we are always taught to think out of the box. I asked a sophomore, Xochitl Arquieta, a few questions. The first question I asked was: “What would you do with $196,000 – all in quarters?” Xochitl gave very interesting ideas on what she would do with this money. For example, she said she would slowly start changing the coins into dollar bills at different stores so as to not appear suspicious. After, she said she would just use the money to travel or buy things of her interest. I also asked her, “How would you transport almost 5 tons in quarters?” Xochitl responded that she “would transport [the money] in sections over a long period of time. Then [she] would get a storage unit to deposit the coins as [she went].”

According to the DoJ, Dennis came in to the Brink’s facility on February 16, 2014 (a day he had off) and stole four empty coin bags and four empty ballistics bags. He filled the ballistics bags with beads. After, he placed both sets of bags in the coin room.

“This defendant may have thought he had quite a haul when he took nearly $200,000 in quarters from the Federal Reserve’s coin storage at Brink’s, but now he carries a heavier load. He must repay the money and face a federal sentence,” Vance stated. The maximum penalty that Stephen Dennis is facing is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The FBI investigated the case, and now the Assistant U.S. Attorney Henry Cornelius is prosecuting.