Colorado Man to Serve Eight Years for Robbing Farmington Bank
| U.S. Attorney’s Office November 27, 2012 |
ALBUQUERQUE—This morning, a federal judge sentenced Ralph L. Eagler, 62, of Cortez, Colorado, to an eight-year term of imprisonment for his bank robbery conviction.
Eagler will be on supervised release for three years after he completes his prison sentence.
On August 7, 2012, Eagler pleaded guilty to robbing the Citizen’s Bank, located at 2911 East 20th St., Farmington, New Mexico, on February 4, 2009.
Eagler has been in federal custody since his arrest on the date of the bank robbery. Prosecution of the case was delayed by competency proceedings.
According to court filings, the Citizen’s Bank was robbed by Eagler, who entered the bank, presented a demand note to the teller, and claimed to have a handgun.
After the teller provided Eagler with a large sum of money, Eagler was observed fleeing the bank on foot. Thereafter, a witness outside the bank observed Eagler drive away in a gold Chevrolet SUV with Colorado license plates.
Eagler was arrested after Farmington Police Department officers stopped a vehicle that fit the description of the vehicle provided by the witness. Eagler was brought to the scene of the robbery, where the bank teller positively identified him as the bank robber.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the Farmington Police Department and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jacob A. Wishard and Jennifer M. Rozzoni.