Albuquerque Man Sentenced to Ten Years for Robbing Wells Fargo Bank Branch at Gunpoint in September 2013

ALBUQUERQUE – Mariano H. Herrera, 59, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced today to 121 months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release for his conviction on armed bank robbery and firearms charges.

Herrera was arrested on Sept. 20, 2013, and charged in a criminal complaint with armed bank robbery. Herrera was indicted in Oct. 2013, and charged with armed bank robbery and using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence.  Herrera pleaded guilty on Jan. 28, 2014, to the indictment without the benefit of a plea agreement.  In entering his guilty plea, Herrera admitted robbing the Wells Fargo Bank branch located on 3401 Coors Blvd. NW, in Albuquerque at gunpoint on Sept. 20, 2013.

Court filings reflect that on Sept. 20, 2013, a man wearing a ski mask entered the bank and drew a handgun from his pants. The masked man brandished the handgun at two bank tellers and demanded that they give him all their money. After the two tellers handed currency to the robber, he left the bank on foot and ran around the building where he got into a pickup truck. Two bank customers, who followed the robber and watched him get into the truck, called “911” and provided the truck’s license plate number.

Deputies of the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office proceeded to Herrera’s residence, which was listed as the address for the registered owner of the truck. The deputies arrested Herrera after one of the bank customers positively identified him as the bank robber having seen Herrera’s face as he pulled off the ski mask as he drove away from bank. Herrera then led the deputies to a toolbox that contained Herrera’s handgun and almost all the money Herrera stole from the bank.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the FBI and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Norman Cairns.