| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 3, 2008 WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/CAN |
SAN FRANCISCO – United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced that Christopher Reynolds pleaded guilty on Friday to two armed bank robberies committed in San Francisco and Buffalo, New York.
Reynolds, age 52, was indicted by a federal Grand Jury in San Francisco on November 27, 2007. He was charged with one count of armed bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(d), which carries a maximum penalty of 25 years imprisonment. He was separately indicted by a federal Grand Jury in Buffalo New York on February 20, 2008, and charged with one count of bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a), which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment.
Under the plea agreement, Reynolds pleaded guilty to all charges, and also admitted that he violated the terms of his supervised release. Reynolds and prosecutors in both San Francisco and Buffalo have agreed that Reynolds may be sentenced in San Francisco for his guilty pleas in both cases.
In pleading guilty, Reynolds admitted that he robbed the Wells Fargo Bank at 1900 Union Street, San Francisco, on November 6, 2007. During that robbery, Reynolds posed as a government officer, wearing a black suit and tie and dark glasses. He approached the bank manager with a fake badge and told the manager he was with the Department of Justice.
Upon sitting down with the manager, Reynolds placed a leather briefcase on the desk and told the manager, “I set an explosive device in the bank. If you attempt to call the police, I have a partner outside with a detonator.” The defendant also told the manager that he had a gun and opened up his coat jacket to display a toy gun that the defendant had painted black to resemble a real gun. The total amount that Reynolds robbed from the Wells Fargo Bank was $9,230.
Reynolds was arrested in a taxi-cab by San Francisco Police Department officers during his attempted escape.
Reynolds also admitted to robbing the M&T Bank in Buffalo, New York, on October 10, 2007. The defendant used a near-identical approach to rob that bank of approximately $21,000.
At the time of both offenses, Reynolds was on federal supervised release from a 1998 bank robbery conviction. He was released from federal prison in July 2007, three months before committing the bank robbery in New York.
Under his plea agreements, Reynolds agreed to be sentenced to 11 years and 8 months total imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release. Reynolds’ sentencing is scheduled for January 16, 2009, before United States District Court Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco. The Court will impose a sentence after consideration of federal statutes and the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nat Cousins and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Al Sambat from the Northern District of California, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo from the Western District of New York prosecuted the case with the assistance of legal assistant Elizabeth Garcia. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the San Francisco Police Department.
Further Information:
Case #: CR 07-0747 SI
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