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Press Release

Three Plead Guilty to Palo Bank Robbery

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Iowa

Two men and one woman who robbed a bank in Palo in May have pled guilty in federal court in Cedar Rapids.

Lance Monden, age 33 from Cedar Rapids, Stanley Mosley, age 36 from Coralville, and Katherine Pihl, age 39 from Tiffin, were all convicted of one count of bank robbery.

Evidence at the plea hearings and an earlier court hearing established that the three robbed the Palo Savings Bank on May 20, 2016.  At approximately 2:35 p.m. on that day, Monden and Mosley entered the Palo Savings Bank.  Both were wearing black masks and hooded sweatshirts.  The two yelled at the employees in the bank and went from teller drawer to teller drawer taking cash and putting it in either the pockets of a sweatshirt or a backpack that one of the robbers was wearing.  Monden and Mosley spent about one minute in the bank before running out the door.

Pihl was waiting outside the bank with a Ford Taurus to use as a getaway car.  After leaving the bank, Monden and Mosley got into the trunk of the Taurus.  Pihl then drove the Taurus out of Palo and south towards Cedar Rapids.  Witnesses saw Monden and Mosley running from the bank wearing masks and then saw the Taurus leaving the area of the bank and reported this information to 911.  About seven minutes after the bank robbery, a deputy with the Linn County Sheriff’s Office stopped the Taurus and found Monden and Mosley hiding in the trunk of the car.  Law enforcement found cash in a backpack in the trunk of the car and on the persons of Monden and Mosley. 

Sentencing before United States District Court Leonard T. Strand will be set after a presentence report is prepared.  Monden and Mosley remain in the custody of the United States Marshal.  Pihl remains free on conditions previously set.  All three face a possible maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a $100 special assessment, and 3 years of supervised release following any imprisonment.     

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Morfitt and was investigated by the Linn County Sheriff’s Office. 

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 16-CR-00051.

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Updated August 15, 2016

Topic
Violent Crime