OAKLAND – LAWFUEL – Legal News, Legal Jobs – United States Attorney Kevin V. Ryan announced that Dana Effrem Pharr pleaded guilty yesterday afternoon to three counts of unarmed bank robbery. Defendant Pharr admitted that on three separate occasions, he passed a demand note to a bank employee in order to rob the bank. This guilty plea is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office.
Mr. Pharr, 41, of Oakland, was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 11, 2006. He was charged with three counts of unarmed bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a). Under the plea agreement, Mr. Pharr pled guilty to all three counts.
In pleading guilty, Mr. Pharr admitted to the following robberies:
DATE
BRANCH OF BANK/CREDIT UNION
CASH STOLEN
August 28, 2005
Alameda Credit Union
835 Marina Village Parkway
Alameda, California
$2,153
October 20, 2005
Alameda Credit Union
2143 Webb Avenue
Alameda, California
$1,365
October 24, 2005
Bank of the West
3396 Castro Valley Boulevard
Castro Valley, California
$2,079
Mr. Pharr was arrested on October 24, 2005, by Alameda County Sheriff’s Deputies shortly after robbing the Bank of the West. Mr. Pharr is currently in custody. The sentencing hearing for Mr. Pharr is scheduled for February 5, 2007, before Judge Claudia Wilken in Oakland. The maximum statutory penalty for each count in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) is 20 years of imprisonment and a fine of $250,000, plus restitution. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
Vineet Gauri is the Special Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Margaret Glyer and Noble Hughes. The prosecution is the result of an eight-month investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office.
Further Information:
Case #: CR-06-00344-CW
A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.
Electronic court filings and further procedural and docket information are available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
Judges’ calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court’s website at www.cand.uscourts.gov.
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.Macaulay@usdoj.gov.
