Garland Man Sentenced to Nearly Five Years in Federal Prison for Robbing Three North Texas Banks Last Summer
Defendant’s Mother Called FBI and Turned Son in After Visiting the Website Bandittracker.com
| U.S. Attorney’s Office April 09, 2012 |
DALLAS—Anthony Blue, 19, of Garland, Texas, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge David C. Godbey to 59 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in January 2012 to three counts of bank robbery, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.
According to the factual resume filed in the case, on June 14, 2011, Blue entered the State Bank of Texas located at 517 W. Interstate 30 in Garland, approached a teller counter, and presented a demand note to the teller that read, “50s 100s and no body gets hurt, sorry.” The teller complied and Blue took the money and fled. On the same day, after leaving the State Bank of Texas, Blue traveled to the Community Bank located at 201 E. Kaufman in Rockwall, Texas. He entered the bank, approached a teller counter, and handed the teller the same note he had presented earlier that day. The teller complied with Blue’s demand, and he took the money and left the bank.
On July 8, 2011, Blue entered the American Nation Bank located at 8908 Highway 34 South, in Quinlan, Texas, approached a teller, and presented a note that read, “Empty Drawer 20s, 50s, 100s, 5 seconds.” The teller emptied the cash drawer and handed Blue the money. After receiving the cash, Blue left the bank.
Shortly thereafter, Blue’s mother called the FBI after visiting the website bandittracker.com and told agents that she believed her son had robbed the State Bank of Texas in Garland and the Community Bank in Rockwall. FBI agents visited Blue’s mother and her husband and presented bank surveillance photos from those robberies, along with a photo of the individual who robbed the American National Bank in Quinlan. Both the defendant’s mother and her husband identified Blue as the bank robber from all three robberies.
The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanna Etessam.