Man Sentenced for Bank Robbery

ROCHESTER, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that William L. Baker, 47 of Rochester, NY, was sentenced to 20 years in prison and three years of supervised by U.S. District Court David G. Larimer for his June 8, 2010 conviction for bank robbery.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Marangola, who handled the case, stated that Baker entered the HSBC Bank at 19 West Main Street in Rochester on January 25, 2010. Baker first approached a female teller pretending to fumble with a check. Next, Baker stated, "I have a gun. Hundreds and fifties. No dye pack. Do you understand me?" Baker repeated the statement to the teller before taking $2,675 from the teller. Unbeknownst to Baker, the stolen money also held a dye pack, which later exploded.

Baker has a 20-year history of convictions involving bank thefts. He was convicted on federal bank robbery charges in 1990 and 1997 as well as state theft and robbery convictions dating back to 1985. Based on the two federal convictions, Baker qualified as a career offender under the federal Sentencing Guidelines.

The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of David Zariczny, Supervisory Senior Resident Agent, and the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief David Moore.