Robbery Spree Buys Felon Lenthy Prison Term

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX—David Michael Hall, 32, who after escaping from a federal halfway house embarked on a spree robbing two banks in three days, has been sentenced to more than 14 years in federal prison, United States Attorney José Angel Moreno announced today.

United States District Judge Janis Graham Jack sentenced Hall today to 178 months in federal custody for robbing the International Bank of Commerce on South Staples street in Corpus Christi on July 12, 2010. Hall was also ordered to pay restitution to the bank in the amount of $8,116.00, which was not recovered. For the Trust Texas Bank robbery in Victoria, Texas on July 14, 2010, Judge Jack also sentenced Hall to 178 months in federal custody. The judge ordered that the two sentences are to be served concurrently and are to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release. Hall was convicted in November 2010, after pleading guilty to having used force, violence, and intimidation to rob the two financial institutions.

On July 12, 2010, the day of the International Bank of Commerce robbery, Hall had absconded from a halfway house in Corpus Christi where he was completing a sentence for a prior bank robbery. Hall hired a taxi to take him to the IBC bank, wait while he was inside, and drive him away following the robbery. Hall then stashed the stolen money and took a bus to Victoria, Texas. On July 14, 2010, Hall robbed the Trust Texas Bank, in Victoria. Hall was arrested hiding in a barber shop after the robbery. All of the money from the Victoria robbery, including several marked bills, was found in Hall’s pocket. Hall was not in possession of a weapon at the time of his arrest.

The investigation leading to the charges was conducted by the FBI and the Corpus Christi and Victoria Police Departments. Assistant United States Attorney Robert D. Thorpe Jr. prosecuted the case.