Albuquerque Man Sentenced to 173 Months in Prison for Robbing the Bank of Albuquerque in March 2010

ALBUQUERQUE—This morning in Albuquerque, a United States District Judge sentenced Kidd Reid Arrington, a 38-year-old Albuquerque resident, to a 170-month term of imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release for his bank robbery conviction. Arrington also was ordered to pay $159.99 in restitution to the victim bank, a sum representing the amount of cash taken from the victim bank but not recovered when Arrington was arrested. The judge also sentenced Arrington to a three-month term of imprisonment, to be served consecutive to his 170-month sentence, for violating the conditions of a supervised release term imposed as a result of a prior bank robbery conviction.

United States Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said that Arrington was sentenced this morning after pleading guilty to robbing the Bank of Albuquerque branch located at 4700 Wyoming Blvd. NE in Albuquerque (bank) on March 22, 2010. Arrington was arrested on March 22, 2010 and has been in federal custody since that time. He was charged by criminal complaint on March 23, 2010 and indicted on April 14, 2010.

According to the criminal complaint, the bank was robbed at approximately 12:15 p.m. by a man who presented a demand note to a teller. The note stated that the man had a gun and would kill the teller if the teller did not comply with his demand for money. After obtaining cash from the teller, the man fled the bank on foot. The complaint alleges that earlier that day, a bank employee observed a man “casing” the bank and that the man fled in a red compact car after being questioned by the employee. Because the employee was able to see and record the license plate number, officers of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) posted a BOLO—a “be on the look-out” alert—for the car.

The red car was stopped by an APD officer as a result of the BOLO and the officer observed that the man in the passenger seat appeared to match the description of the bank robber. When the man was asked to step out of the car, the officer observed that his pockets were stuffed with a large quantity of money. Thereafter, an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrived at the scene with bank surveillance photographs. After comparing the photographs to the man, the FBI agent and APD officers concluded that the man appeared to be the same person who robbed the bank.

The man was identified as Arrington, whom the FBI agent recognized as a defendant he previously arrested on bank robbery charges over 10 years ago. Court records reflect that (i) Arrington was arrested on bank robbery charges in October 1997; (ii) he entered a guilty plea to those charges in December 1997; and (iii) he was sentenced to a 41-month term of imprisonment in March 1998. Court records also reflect that, when Arrington robbed the bank on March 22, 2010, he was on supervised release from his prior bank robbery conviction.

Arrington entered a guilty plea to the indictment on January 11, 2011 without the benefit of any plea agreement.

The case was investigated by the FBI and APD, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Norman Cairns.