News Release
U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
District of Rhode Island
December 18, 2008
Former Marine reservist is sentenced for bank robbery, ID theft
A federal judge today sentenced Daniel Tejeda, 22, of Providence, to 41 months in prison for robbing a Sovereign Bank branch in Providence and also for stealing identity information from a fellow Marine at a training camp.
United States Attorney Robert Clark Corrente announced the sentence, which Chief U.S. District Court Judge Mary M. Lisi imposed in U.S. District Court, Providence.
In August, Tejeda pleaded guilty to bank robbery and identity theft. At the plea hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Milind M. Shah said the government could prove that, in December 2007, Tejeda went to a Sovereign Bank branch on Elmwood Avenue in Providence and tried several ruses to withdraw money from an account he claimed to have. After several unsuccessful attempts, Tejeda left the bank, but returned a short while later and handed a teller a threatening note: “I have a gun – all your cash or you die – 100’s, 50’s, 20’s, 10’s and 5’s. Hand it to me normally and no one gets hurt. Take longer than 30 seconds and I start shooting.” The teller handed him a stack of money – $5,993 – and he fled the bank No gun was evident during the robbery.
In 2005, while Tejeda was training as a Marine reservist at Parris Island, South Carolina, he lifted a fellow Marine’s wallet to obtain identity information. After he returned to Rhode Island, Tejeda used the other Marine’s identity to open accounts with the Navy Federal Credit Union and T-Mobile.
In April 2006, Tejeda obtained $3,500 in credit and loan funds from the Navy Federal Credit Union. He also deposited a worthless check in the credit union account and withdrew approximately $1,600 against it before the credit union could determine that it was worthless. The identity theft was discovered in December 2006, after the victim had deployed to Iraq and his mother in New York started receiving dunning calls from a collection agency.
Tejeda has been discharged from the Marine Corps.
Providence Police and the FBI investigated the bank robbery. The United States Secret Service investigated the identity theft, with assistance from New York State Police.