Bank Robber Sentenced to 33 Years’ Imprisonment

TALLAHASSEE, FL—Thomas F. Kirwin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida announced that Zebediah Kyler, 31,was sentenced to 33 years’ imprisonment following a sentencing hearing conducted yesterday before United States District Judge Robert Hinkle.

Kyler had been indicted for three armed bank robberies in Tallahassee as well as money laundering. Kyler was convicted of two of the bank robberies and the money laundering charge in a jury trial in December of last year. Evidence introduced at trial established that Kyler robbed the Wakulla Bank on June 23, 2008, and the Wachovia Bank on March 16, 2009, and that he used the same gun in both robberies. That gun was later recovered with dye-pack stains and stained money stolen in the Wachovia robbery. Kyler was apprehended within hours of the Wachovia robbery with dye-stained money in his pocket, and dye-pack stains on his clothing. The government’s evidence also showed that Kyler laundered the proceeds of his robberies in an actual laundromat. A video tape introduced at trial showed Kyler inside the laundromat, feeding approximately $600 in dye-stained currency into a change machine there.

Additional provisions of the sentence require Kyler to pay restitution to the two banks, $500 in court costs, and serve a three-year term of supervised release upon completing his prison sentence. Kyler had been in federal custody since his arrest on these charges, and remained in custody following the sentencing.

Mr. Kirwin praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Tallahassee Police Department, and the Leon County Sheriff’s Office whose joint investigation led to the convictions and sentence in this case. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Robert Davis and Corey Smith.