Bank Robbers Sentenced to Prison
Las Vegas, Nev. - Three individuals who separately committed seven bank robberies in Las Vegas over the last two years, were all sentenced to prison terms today, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada. Another defendant has pleaded guilty to bank robbery and will be sentenced next month.
WILLIAM TELLEZ, age 30, of Henderson, Nevada, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Philip M. Pro to 177 months in prison and ordered to pay $6,179 in restitution for his guilty pleas to Bank Robbery, Armed Bank Robbery, and Possession of a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence. On February 11, 2002, TELLEZ used a note to rob a teller at the U.S. Bank at 3160 North Rainbow Boulevard in Las Vegas, fleeing the bank with $3,077 in cash, but leaving behind a Wells Fargo Bank checkbook bearing his name and account number. On May 6, 2002, TELLEZ robbed the Wells Fargo Bank inside Albertson's Grocery Store at 1001 South Rainbow Boulevard in Las Vegas. He placed a firearm into the ribs of a female customer who was inside the bank with her son. TELLEZ pushed her out of his way, then climbed over the counter with the firearm and a bag and shouted "This is for real. I want your money." TELLEZ fled the bank with approximately $3,102 in cash. As TELLEZ entered a get-away vehicle outside the bank, the son of the woman he had pushed followed after the vehicle on foot. TELLEZ then fired one round from his firearm at the young man. The bullet struck the brim of the young man's baseball cap and ricocheted off, without causing any serious injury.
JOSHUA KRISTAN DAVIDSON, age 23, of Anchorage, Alaska, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Philip M. Pro to 63 months in prison and ordered to pay $4,114 in restitution for his guilty pleas to three counts of Bank Robbery. DAVIDSON robbed three Las Vegas banks in a two-week period. On October 16, 2003, DAVIDSON robbed the Wells Fargo Bank at 5410 W. Charleston Boulevard in Las Vegas, and obtained $330 in cash; on October 20, 2003, DAVIDSON robbed the Wells Fargo Bank at 5975 W. Tropicana and obtained $2,900 in cash; and on October 29, 2003, DAVIDSON robbed the Wells Fargo Bank at 2502 S. Rainbow Boulevard and obtained $884 in cash. In all three robberies, DAVIDSON showed notes to the tellers indicating he was robbing the banks. In the first robbery, he stated that he had the AIDS virus and would infect everyone in the bank, and in the last two, he stated he had a gun.
PHILIP EDWARD QUACKENBUSH, age 40, of Las Vegas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kent J. Dawson to 57 months in prison and ordered to pay $4,510 in restitution for his guilty pleas to two counts of Bank Robbery. QUACKENBUSH robbed the Bank of America at 835 North Martin Luther King Boulevard in Las Vegas on February 17, 2004, and robbed the Wells Fargo Bank at 3555 South Jones Boulevard in Las Vegas on February 27, 2004. In the first robbery, he fled the bank with $1,100 in cash, and in the second, he fled with $3,491 in cash. Because QUACKENBUSH was on federal supervised release for a prior (1999) bank robbery conviction at the time he committed the February 2004 robberies, he was ordered to serve an additional consecutive 12 months in prison for violating the terms of his supervised release.
JAMES ALLEN SPARKS, age 36, of Las Vegas, pleaded guilty to Bank Robbery on May 12, 2004, and is scheduled for sentencing on August 24, 2004. On March 2, 2004, SPARKS robbed the Wells Fargo Bank at 791 North Nellis Boulevard. SPARKS gave the bank teller a note stating that he wanted $5,000 in big bills, and that he had a gun and was going to start shooting if the money was not provided in five seconds. Although no firearm was displayed, the teller stated that SPARKS held his hand inside his waistband as though he had a weapon. SPARKS fled the bank with $1,588 in cash.
"Bank robbery is a crime that leaves victims with vivid and frightful memories for the rest of their lives, regardless of whether it is committed with a weapon," said U.S. Attorney Bogden. "As today's hearings reflect, the substantial sentences in these cases match the severity of the crimes and the damage they inflict on our community." The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Nevada continues to vigorously prosecute violent crime, including bank robberies, carjackings, kidnapings, and violent crimes committed with firearms. Approximately 93 percent of those convicted of a violent crime offense in the District of Nevada over the last 10 years have been sentenced to prison, and approximately 42 percent of those convicted received sentences of 61 months or more.
The above cases were investigated by Special Agents with the FBI and Detectives with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karyn Kenny, William Reed, Thomas S. Dougherty, and Kimberly M. Frayn.
