Three Houston Men Get Lengthy Sentences for Baytown Bank Robbery

HOUSTON—Jose Matilde Quintanilla, 27, Paul Glenn Ballard, 52, and Carl Edward Malone, 50, have been sentenced to federal prison for their involvement in the armed bank robbery of Community Bank in Baytown, Texas, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today. U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal sentenced Quintanilla, Malone, and Ballard to 151, 121, and 120 months in prison, respectively, less than an hour ago.

Quintanilla, Ballard, and Malone pleaded guilty to one count of armed bank robbery on July 27, 2011, admitting that they were responsible for the robbery of the Community Bank on Highway 146 in Baytown, a federally insured institution.

At time of their guilty pleas, the men admitted they entered the bank together at approximately noon on June 7, 2010, wearing dark clothing. Ballard, brandishing a gun in his hand, ordered everyone to the ground, while Quintanilla, wearing a blue bandana around his face, restrained the employees with a “zip tie” or “flex cuff.” The suspects took the money from the teller drawers and placed some of it into a lunch box-type container they brought with them into the bank. They also used a clear plastic bag from inside the bank in which they put the rest of the money.

The Chambers County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) and Baytown Police Department (BPD), who responded to the scene of the robbery, were notified by police dispatchers almost immediately following the bank robbery that they had received information the suspects were heading west on Interstate 10 through the city of Baytown. In response, BPD ordered officers to stop all west bound traffic on Interstate 10. Shortly thereafter, a BPD officer saw an older model Dodge Intrepid with dark tinted windows matching the description of the bank robbers’ getaway vehicle stopped on the interstate. The officer observed a large amount of money in a clear plastic bag and ordered the occupants—Quintanilla, Ballard, and Malone—out of the car and were taken into custody. A further search of the vehicle resulted in the discovery and seizure of a loaded 9 mm Hi Point semiautomatic pistol, a lunch box type container filled with currency, numerous checks and a number of items of dark clothing including a blue bandana.

The three men have been in custody since their arrest where they will remain pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The investigation leading to the charges was conducted by the FBI, CCSO, and BPD. Assistant United States Attorney Suzanne Elmilady is prosecuting the case.