January 25, 2008

SACRAMENTO MAN DUBBED THE “GRANDPA BANK ROBBER” SENTENCED FOR SERIAL BANK ROBBERY

SACRAMENTO—United States Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced today that WILLIAM MICHAEL LEVIN, 58, of Sacramento, was sentenced to 51 months in prison by United States District Court Judge Frank C. Damrell, Jr. for his Sacramento County serial bank-robbery spree.

The case was investigated by the Sacramento Violent Crimes Task Force, which includes the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office. During the early stages of the investigation, the task force dubbed the perpetrator the “grandpa bank robber” because surveillance photos depicted the robber to be of an age between late 50s to early 60s.

According to Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Rodriguez, who prosecuted the case, LEVIN was sentenced following his previous pleas of guilty to robbing the U.S. Bank located at 1444 Ethan Way, Sacramento on June 5, 2007, and the Bank of the West located at 2581 Fair Oaks Blvd., Sacramento on July 25, 2007. As part of his plea agreement, LEVIN admitted that he committed a third bank robbery at the Guaranty Bank located at 2277 Watt Avenue, Sacramento, on July 31, 2007.

LEVIN's sentence was increased under the federal sentencing guidelines because he threatened to use a gun in each of his robberies, and because he was on probation for check fraud offenses in Riverside County at the time he committed his robberies. LEVIN was also ordered to pay restitution to each victim bank, to pay a $200 special assessment, and to serve a period of three years of federal supervision after he is released from prison.

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For more information on federal criminal defense law, contact the Law Offices of Joseph Shemaria of Los Angeles, California.