Admitted Acting as Lookout During Robbery
SAN JOSE – LAWFUEL – The Law Newswire – United States Attorney Scott N. Schools announced that Jose Lito Campos, 28, of Salinas, who pleaded guilty on April 10, 2007 to robbery in violation of the Hobbs Act and to unrelated drug charges, was sentenced late Monday afternoon, July 23, 2007 to 66 months imprisonment. The sentence was handed down by United States District Judge Ronald M. Whyte, sitting in San Jose. The cases were the result of separate investigations by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office, and the FBI.
In his guilty plea, Campos admitted to conspiring with others to rob a Salinas merchant in April 2004. According to his plea agreement with the government, Campos acknowledged that on April 2, 2004, the owner/operator of The Corner Market, a convenience store and check cashing business in Salinas, cashed a check at Community Bank for over $314,000, and then returned to her store with the money. Before she arrived, however, she was assaulted and robbed by another co-conspirator, Ramon Romero. Campos admitted that he acted as the look-out during the robbery.
A co-defendant, Christina Marie Flores, was the Customer Service Manager for Community Bank at the time of the robbery. Ms. Flores pleaded guilty on February 26, 2007, admitting to having told her then-boyfriend, Jorge Lopez, about the large cash withdrawal, thereby setting the robbery in motion. Ms. Flores was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment on June 7, 2007.
An extensive federal investigation resulted in the April 6, 2006 indictment of Flores, Campos, and Jorge Lopez. (Romero was separately prosecuted by the Monterey County District Attorney.) Lopez was recently arrested and is detained without bail pending trial.
Thomas O’Connell and Susan Jerich are the Assistant U.S. Attorneys who prosecuted the case against Campos. The government thanks Community Bank in Salinas for its assistance with the investigation.
