WCGW: guy steals cash from bank, postes on FB/IG

[widebody911]

Could he possibly tick off any more of the stereotype checkboxes?

https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/14/us/man-accused-of-stealing-from-bank-vault-facebook-post-trnd/index.html

[speeder]

That's a special kind of stupid. Banking related crimes are all federal offenses w huge sentences and hardly any early parole- not like shooting someone in L.A. and getting out 4 years later, etc...

A prosecutor once explained to me the stupidity of most bank robberies- they hardly get any $$ and the penalty is federal and stiff. 10 years for first offense and with perfect behavior, you do 85% of your sentence, so 8.5 years. Check fraud, OTOH, is not federal and people sometimes get huge amounts of $$ if they are good at it.

Not advocating for anyone to commit crime but just sayin'....

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by speeder

That's a special kind of stupid. Banking related crimes are all federal offenses w huge sentences and hardly any early parole- not like shooting someone in L.A. and getting out 4 years later, etc...

A prosecutor once explained to me the stupidity of most bank robberies- they hardly get any $$ and the penalty is federal and stiff. 10 years for first offense and with perfect behavior, you do 85% of your sentence, so 8.5 years. Check fraud, OTOH, is not federal and people sometimes get huge amounts of $$ if they are good at it.

Not advocating for anyone to commit crime but just sayin'....

One of my oldest friends, a guy I grew up with, has a son who went completely off the rails. We're talking heroin addiction and everything that goes with it, culminating in a life of crime to support his habit. He eventually worked his way up to bank robbery.

In his first conviction, for multiple robberies, he wound up getting out in two years for "good behavior", being a "model prisoner" and all. This was a multiple count federal rap.

He stayed clean for a couple of years, looking like he was back on track. Then he fell back in with his old "friends" and resumed his old habits. Robbed a few more banks, this time while visibly armed. He has been in prison for about three years now, once again on a multi-count rap, this time adding the "armed" component to all of it.

He will be getting out next summer, after about four years. From his second multi-count bank robbery conviction, this time armed. His sentence was something like twelve years.

So, what I'm getting at, is that my experiences with a young man who I know personally seem to differ a good deal from what your prosecutor friend told you. Granted, I really wish it were more like you describe, and that this young man would be facing something a bit stiffer than he has, but that is not what I've seen play out.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Police always say, we don’t catch the smart ones!

[biosurfer1]

Wow, didn't see "Florida man..." anywhere in the article!😁

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by speeder

That's a special kind of stupid. Banking related crimes are all federal offenses w huge sentences and hardly any early parole- not like shooting someone in L.A. and getting out 4 years later, etc...

A prosecutor once explained to me the stupidity of most bank robberies- they hardly get any $$ and the penalty is federal and stiff. 10 years for first offense and with perfect behavior, you do 85% of your sentence, so 8.5 years. Check fraud, OTOH, is not federal and people sometimes get huge amounts of $$ if they are good at it.

Not advocating for anyone to commit crime but just sayin'....

I heard a statistic once that one can get away with three (IIRC) bank jobs before ones chances of getting caught make it no longer worth the risk.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

.... Granted, I really wish it were more like you describe, and that this young man would be facing something a bit stiffer than he has, but that is not what I've seen play out.

Likely some circumstances that resulted in a lesser sentence than someone else may have received.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

One of my oldest friends, a guy I grew up with, has a son who went completely off the rails. We're talking heroin addiction and everything that goes with it, culminating in a life of crime to support his habit. He eventually worked his way up to bank robbery.

In his first conviction, for multiple robberies, he wound up getting out in two years for "good behavior", being a "model prisoner" and all. This was a multiple count federal rap.

He stayed clean for a couple of years, looking like he was back on track. Then he fell back in with his old "friends" and resumed his old habits. Robbed a few more banks, this time while visibly armed. He has been in prison for about three years now, once again on a multi-count rap, this time adding the "armed" component to all of it.

He will be getting out next summer, after about four years. From his second multi-count bank robbery conviction, this time armed. His sentence was something like twelve years.

So, what I'm getting at, is that my experiences with a young man who I know personally seem to differ a good deal from what your prosecutor friend told you. Granted, I really wish it were more like you describe, and that this young man would be facing something a bit stiffer than he has, but that is not what I've seen play out.

Yeah, that's news to me. Ive always heard that bank robbery is a 10 year sentence and not much flexibility for judges w sentencing guidelines. Federal parole policy must have changed dramatically since my dad was trying cases, he's the one who told me about the 85% rule, IIRC.

[Sarc]

Originally Posted by speeder

Yeah, that's news to me. Ive always heard that bank robbery is a 10 year sentence and not much flexibility for judges w sentencing guidelines. Federal parole policy must have changed dramatically since my dad was trying cases, he's the one who told me about the 85% rule, IIRC.

About 10 years ago, I commissioned a thourough and exhaustive background check on an individual to see if his history aligned with my concerns. As suspected, this person had been a criminal for most of his 70 years on this planet. One of his priors involved the robbery of a rural Illinois bank with three individuals. Even with 3 prior convictions for home invasion/robbery, he was only sentenced to 5 years in prison in 1972. It is my understanding he sold out his partners in a plea.

Best.

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Police always say, we don’t catch the smart ones!

A few years ago I was dating a plain clothes police detective. (She was rather nice and youthfully feminine. )

She told me that prisons are full of stupid people!

[Jims5543]

If you do not like giving CNN clicks here is an alternative source.

https://heavy.com/news/2019/12/arlando-henderson/


Many years ago, a girl up the street from my parents landed a job at a bank. She started skimming money, and spending it, lavishly.

She was nabbed about 6 months in, I think they let her hang herself, and went to jail.

She was a standard white trash girl ticking off all the Florida Man boxes.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

I really wish it were more like you describe, and that this young man would be facing something a bit stiffer than he has, but that is not what I've seen play out.

I suspect he may be facing something stiffer already, but that's not what you meant. Yeah, getting off "easy" isn't a good thing either.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Jims5543

If you do not like giving CNN clicks here is an alternative source.

https://heavy.com/news/2019/12/arlando-henderson/


Many years ago, a girl up the street from my parents landed a job at a bank. She started skimming money, and spending it, lavishly.

She was nabbed about 6 months in, I think they let her hang herself, and went to jail.

She was a standard white trash girl ticking off all the Florida Man boxes.

Yeah, but she was hot and crazy, right? hahahah

[HardDrive]

I don't care about the prison sentence. Please snip his tubes so he can't infect the world with more stupid.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Likely some circumstances that resulted in a lesser sentence than someone else may have received.

I cannot say with any certainty that that was not the case. Both were plea deals.

Originally Posted by speeder

Yeah, that's news to me. Ive always heard that bank robbery is a 10 year sentence and not much flexibility for judges w sentencing guidelines. Federal parole policy must have changed dramatically since my dad was trying cases, he's the one who told me about the 85% rule, IIRC.

Like I said above, both were plea deals. They were, however, from probably half a dozen counts each time down to just a couple or three, remaining "bank robbery" both times and "armed" the second time.

I would not be surprised, with our over-populated prisons and over-taxed legal systems, that we have significantly softened on this kind of thing since your old man's time. I'm sure he was absolutely right, at the time he was practicing. We should go back, in many ways, to his time...

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by masraum

Yeah, but she was hot and crazy, right? hahahah

No she was a Florida WT redneck, round a porky pig looking.

[Jim Richards]

Originally Posted by widebody911

Could he possibly tick off any more of the stereotype checkboxes?

https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/14/us/man-accused-of-stealing-from-bank-vault-facebook-post-trnd/index.html

He could’ve been FloridaMan..

[speeder]

One of my closest friends has an older brother who is just a bad seed, heroin addict/bank robber and criminal in general since he was a kid. He's been locked-up most of his life. Every ten or fifteen years, they parole him and he starts robbing banks in short order, gets caught and goes back.

We call him "Crazy Mike", he's one of those guys who just can't handle freedom. He used to like robbing drive-through banks for some reason...too lazy to get out of the car, I guess. I actually wound up w one of his crime cars about 30 years ago, the police released it to his brother and he sold it to me. *****en '66 Ford PU truck.

He is a tiresome prick because he's no good and so predictable, plus he always lives off his brother when he gets out. His last bout w freedom resulted in a shoot-out w police outside a bank in Newport Beach. He's never getting out this time.

[sc_rufctr]

(I was a smoker) About 20 years ago I'm walking down a street in the city. A 20 something guy stops me and asks for a cigarette.
As I'm giving him one he tells me he just got out of "Yatala" (Our main prison) and was looking for work.
I said I couldn't help him and moved on.

So this guy had no problem telling a complete stranger that he just got out of prison. It bothered me and thought it was unusual.
I soon realised that it's his "normal" so why not tell everyone?

These people live in a different universe to us.

[oldE]

On the flip side:
About 35 years ago, I was training a driver to take over a milk delivery route for the summer. I had tried training a couple of people who were just not interested in working, but then was given a trainee who was determined to get 'er done. He was sharp and eager to learn. Come Friday, the boss called me into the office and advised me we couldn't hire him. The reason was , he couldn't be bonded. He had just got out of prison.
I guess there are exceptions to every rule/case. I have met lots of people in the decades since who should have gone to prison, but managed to avoid it. I don't know what happened to the guy after that. I hope he made it.

Best
Les