15 December 2004 – LAWFUEL – First with law news – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California announced that Reginald Hiley was convicted of armed bank robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence by a federal jury yesterday. The jury, after deliberating for five hours, found that Mr. Hiley was one of four men who robbed a San Jose bank at gunpoint last year. The guilty verdict followed a one-week jury trial before U.S. District Court Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong.
According to the evidence presented at trial, three men wearing masks and gloves stormed into the Bank of America at 1510 The Alameda in San Jose on January 9, 2003. One of the men waved a pistol in the air and ordered all the customers and tellers to the ground. The other two men jumped over the teller counter and took $19,575 in cash. The three men then ran out of the bank and jumped into a getaway car, driven by a fourth person.
Mr. Hiley, 23, of Oakland, was indicted by a federal grand jury on January 23, 2004. He was charged with armed bank robbery, conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery, and brandishing a gun during a crime of violence.
Earlier this year, Wyatt King, Quentin Bastanchury, and Philip Grimes all pled guilty to participating in the armed bank robbery. In addition, King and Bastanchury pled guilty to brandishing a firearm during the robbery.
The maximum statutory penalty for each count of armed bank robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) and (d), is 25 years and a fine of $250,000, plus restitution if appropriate. In addition, the conviction of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), involves an additional mandatory minimum sentence of seven years, which must be imposed consecutively to the sentence for armed bank robbery. However, the actual sentence will be dictated by the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of factors, and will be imposed at the discretion of the court. The sentencing of Mr. Hiley is scheduled for February 1, 2005, before Judge Armstrong in Oakland.
The conviction is the result of a two year investigation by Special Agent Nancy Duncan of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael L. Wang and Kirstin M. Ault tried the case. Katie Cannuli, Ponly Tu and Sutton Peirce assisted with the case.
A copy of this press release and related court filings may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can . Related court documents and information may be found on the District Court website at www.cand.uscourts.gov or on .
All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be directed to Luke Macaulay at (415) 436-6757 or by email at Luke.Macaulay3@usdoj.gov .
