Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office, announced that defendant Steven Gass, 55, of Miami Springs, pled guilty on Friday, May 7, 2010, to six counts of bank robbery, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2113(a). Sentencing has been scheduled for July 23, 2010 before U.S. District Court Judge James I. Cohn in Ft. Lauderdale. At sentencing, Gass faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on each count.

According to court documents and statements made in court during the plea hearing, defendant Steven Gass robbed the following banks:

• AmTrust Bank, 3600 West Hillsboro Blvd., Deerfield Beach, FL, on May 2, 2009;
• Bank Atlantic, 6568 Atlantic Avenue, Delray Beach, FL, on July 22, 2008;
• First Bank, 1220 Ponce De Leon Blvd, Coral Gables, FL, on November 3, 2009;
• HSBC Bank, 2199 Ponce De Leon Blvd, Coral Gables, FL, on December 2, 2009;
• Bank of America, 3900 South Ocean Drive, Hollywood, FL, on April 17, 2008 and June 25, 2008.

In each robbery, Steven Gass would enter the bank and present the tellers with a note that demanded cash, stated he was armed, and that he would shoot the tellers if they did not comply with his request. The victim tellers all complied with Steven Gass’s demands. Thereafter, Steven Gass fled each bank.

In addition to the six charged robberies, Steven Gass admitted to robbing another 15 South Florida banks, including:

• Bank of America, 9760 S. Military Trail, Boynton Beach, FL, on April 21, 2008;
• Amtrust Bank, 3600 W. Hillsboro Blvd., Deerfield Beach, FL, on June 27, 2008 and November 4, 2008;
• Wachovia, 1489 S.E. 17th Street, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, on July 25, 2008, September 24, 2008, and April 6, 2009;
• Bank Atlantic, 19631 State Road 7, Boca Raton, FL, on May 8, 2009;
• HSBC, 2 S. Biscayne Blvd., Miami, FL, on May 20, 2009;
• Wachovia,1395 Brickell Ave., Miami, FL, on June 19, 2009;
• Citibank, 3660 W. Hillsboro Blvd., Deerfield Beach, FL, on August 22, 2009 and September 25, 2009;
• Mercantil Bank, 8181 SW 117 Street, Pinecrest, FL, on October 08, 2009;
• Bank of America, 11205 S. Dixie Highway, Pinecrest, FL, on January 11, 2010;
• Wachovia, 6905 Lake North Rd., Green Acres, FL, on February 9, 2010;
• Iron Stone Bank, 3055 N. 9th Street, Naples, FL, on February 16, 2010.

In total, between April 17, 2008 and February 16, 2010, Steven Gass was responsible for the robberies of 21 banks, resulting in approximately $136,758 in stolen U.S. currency.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the numerous local police departments involved in this joint investigation. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Anton.

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A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.