Albuquerque Woman Pleads Guilty to Federal Armed Bank Robbery Charge

ALBUQUERQUE—This morning in federal court in Albuquerque, Hazel Bernadette Gutierrez, 54, entered a guilty plea to a one-count indictment charging her with armed bank robbery under a plea agreement with the United States Attorney’s Office. At sentencing, Gutierrez faces up to 25 years’ imprisonment to be followed by up to five years of supervised release. Gutierrez is in federal custody and remains detained pending her sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

United States Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said that Gutierrez pled guilty to robbing the Bank of America branch located at 7644 Jefferson Street NE in Albuquerque (bank) on November 20, 2009. Although a criminal complaint charging Gutierrez with robbing the bank was filed on December 3, 2009, Gutierrez was not arrested on federal charges until January 20, 2011 because she was arrested by state authorities on unrelated criminal charges on December 3, 2009. On January 21, 2011, Gutierrez was arraigned on a federal armed bank robbery charge and entered a not guilty plea.

According to the criminal complaint, at approximately 3:19 p.m. on November 20, 2009, the bank was robbed by a woman who carried what appeared to be a small black gun. As the robber approached a bank teller’s station, she slid a note to the teller that read: “I’m robbing you. Give me all your money. I have a gun pointed at you. Don’t push the alarm or tell anyone that you’ve been robbed.” As the teller handed cash to the robber, the teller saw a black handgun in the woman’s left hand. After handing the cash to the robber, the teller also pushed the note back to the woman. After a surveillance photo was released to the public, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) received identification tips, including one tip indicating that the robber looked like Gutierrez. Thereafter, the teller identified Gutierrez as the bank robber from a six-person photo array.

Based on the allegations in the criminal complaint, on December 3, 2009, the FBI obtained a warrant for Gutierrez’s arrest. However, on that same day, court records reflect that Gutierrez was arrested for attempted carjacking and kidnapping pursuant to state law. Gutierrez was in possession of a black pellet gun when she was arrested. In her plea agreement, Gutierrez admitted that, when she robbed the Bank, she gave the bank teller a note telling the bank teller that she had a gun pointed at the bank teller.

The case was investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer M. Rozzoni.