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Press Release

Omaha Man Sentenced to Life in Prison as a “Three Strikes” Offender

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

United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced that Quantal Blake, age 29, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced to life in prison yesterday by the Honorable Laurie Smith Camp.  Blake was convicted by a federal jury on May 28, 2015, of two counts of bank robbery and one count of attempted bank robbery. 

On February 4, 2014, the Premier Bank located at 352 North 114th Street, Omaha, Nebraska, was robbed at approximately 11:15 a.m., when two men with partially covered faces ran in and demanded money.  They took money from the bank and fled the area.  A vehicle they had stolen the night before and used in the robbery was recovered, abandoned, a few blocks away.  On March 20, 2014, at approximately 8:40 a.m., two men with masks drove up to the front door of the same bank.  The passenger got out of a vehicle that had been stolen the day before and attempted to enter the bank.  The lobby was not yet open.  They fled the area, striking another vehicle in the process, and abandoned the vehicle a short distance away.  Later that same day, at approximately 1:17 p.m., two males entered the First Westroads Bank located at 612 North 98th Street.  The men had their faces obscured and one had his hand under a coat as if he had a weapon.  They got money from the bank, fled the area, and abandoned the vehicle they used near 96th and Western. 

Through the efforts of the Omaha Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, investigators developed Blake as a suspect.  Investigators determined that Blake was on parole from a prior robbery offense.  As part of his parole, he was required to wear an electronic monitoring device on his ankle.  Data from the device was analyzed and Blake was tracked by time and location to the places where each robbery occurred, to the locations where both vehicles had been stolen and to the locations where all three vehicles had been abandoned after the crimes.

Blake had two previous violent felony convictions for robbery and associated weapons charges.  Because a firearm was used during the First Westroads bank robbery, Blake faced a mandatory life sentence as a Three Strikes offender.  He received 17½ years each for the First Premier bank robbery and attempted robbery.  Those sentences were ordered to be served at the same time as each other and at the same time as the life sentence.  He was also ordered to pay restitution of $18,290 to First Premier Bank and $13,085 to First Westroads Bank.

U.S. Attorney Deborah Gilg praised the efforts of law enforcement in developing a suspect and tracking him down.  She further commented on the courageousness of the tellers during the robberies themselves and at the trial.  “This is one more example of members of the Omaha community coming forward and saying enough is enough.”  Added James Langenberg, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI, “The severity of the sentence imposed is a direct reflection of the law enforcement coordination between the Omaha Police Department and the FBI.”

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Omaha Police Department.

Updated February 12, 2016

Topic
Violent Crime