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Federal Bank Robbery

Federal Bank Robbery - 18 U.S.C. § 2113

If you or a loved one has been arrested for a bank robbery or attempted bank robbery, that is definitely something I can help you out with.  I've handled a lot of federal cases over the last 26 years.

I know the root of how the feds get involved with these bank robbery cases — how to deal them, how to mitigate them.

The federal crime of bank robbery is defined under 18 U.S.C. § 2113 as part of a comprehensive statute that has expanded to include other theft related crimes. it also includes robbery of an armored truck or bank messenger, a night depository, and an automatic teller machine (ATM).

This statute describes bank robbery as the taking, by force or intimidation, any money or property that is in the care custody, or control of any bank, credit union, or savings and loan institution.

FBI Investigates Bank Robbery Cases

What you're looking at is all banks are federally insured, so typically I see anytime there's a bank robbery, the FBI will investigate the case.  They pull all the cameras from the bank.  They interview everybody, all the witnesses.  They try to interview the defendant.

Of course, I never suggest that anybody talk to the FBI, especially if they're investigating you or a loved one for a bank robbery and then they give it to the prosecutors who will decide whether to file the case or not.  But because the banks are federally insured, it's typically the United States Attorney's Office that prosecutes the cases if someone is charged with bank robbery.

In the Central District, it would be downtown Los Angeles, so your case would typically start at the Roybal Building where you would be arraigned.  You'd get all your information related to your case.

Federal Bank Robbery Cases in Los Angeles - 18 U.S.C. § 2113

Your attorney at that point would be able to represent you and try to get you out on some sort of signature bond or property bond or some other conditions.  It's surprising how quickly the feds can get you into court once they arrest you.

You're usually there the same day or next day unless there's some extenuating circumstances.  So, you'd probably be on the 2:00 calendar on the 3rd Floor of the Roybal Building, 255 East Temple Street.

You would obviously want to have an attorney there to represent you or a loved one in downtown Los Angeles for a federal bank robbery case.

They're obviously going to have to prove that you went into the bank with the intent to rob it.  There will have to have been some sort of a threat or a weapon used, and then a lot of times people will pass a note to the teller and rob the bank.

Most of the time, these people are going to get caught because of the various security features that banks have.  The main one being a camera, alarms all over the bank, security guards.  So, it's not that easy to get away with a federal bank robbery.

Penalties for Federal Bank Robbery

As far as the type of time in custody that a person's looking at, there's a number of different factors that play into that.  One, they're going to look at your criminal history.  If you've been convicted before of any other serious felonies, served any time before, have any theft-related offenses, did you actually get away with some money, if so, how much money?

Did you use a weapon, for a gun example.  That adds an extra enhancement to the crime.  So, it really depends on the facts and circumstances, the dangerousness level that you were involved with.

Obviously, judges and prosecutors in these bank robbery cases are not only looking to protect people's money, but protect the public's safety and if they feel that you are a danger to the public because you are committing armed bank robbery for example.

That's obviously going to impact whether you're able to get out on bail and impact what your potential sentence might be.  If you have a prior conviction for a bank robbery, that would certainly be something that would aggravate any sentence that you might receive.

Fighting Federal Bank Robbery Charges

So typically, what I will do in these Los Angeles federal bank robbery cases is, I will speak to the client in private under the cloak of the attorney/client privilege so the client feels satisfied that I'm not going to give out any information that is given over to me.

I always stress to the client to be honest with me because if the person is not honest, they don't really put me in the best position to defend them and a lot of times I'll get information from the prosecutors that I didn't know about because the client wasn't straight-forward.

In some cases, they only wanted to give me the information that they felt helped them versus giving me all the information so that I can have a full evaluation of the case and be in the best position to negotiate and discuss the matter with the Assistant United States Attorney downtown Los Angeles.

Once I've discussed it fully with the client, I'll also review all of the necessary discovery investigation paperwork that the prosecutors will provide that they receive from the agent.  I'll also do my own investigation if it makes sense.

If something hasn't been looked into that could be helpful to us, we can hire an investigator ourselves, equip that investigator with all the information and the police report, and then I'll meet with the investigator and talk to him about exactly what I want them to do to try to benefit us in our case.

Negotiation with Federal Prosecutor

After I've done that, I'll speak to the prosecutor about the case.  I always like to get their perspective, because that pretty much pinpoints what we're up against and then we really know how we're going to defend the case.

Whether we're going to fight it, and if so, what issues and angles we're going to attack or whether we're going to try to do damage control and mitigate it because the prosecutor has good evidence against us, but talking to them really puts in focus the other side's argument and then we can decide exactly how we're going to handle the case.

So, if you or a loved on is charged with bank robbery related to a Los Angeles case, pick up the phone.  Set up a free consultation and we can discuss the matter and see what I can do to assist you.

Hedding Law Firm is a criminal defense law firm located in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles County at 16000 Ventura Blvd #1208 Encino, CA 91436. We are also located at 633 West Fifth Street Los Angeles, CA 90071. Contact us for a free case evaluation at (213) 542-0979.

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