Colorado Man Guilty of Salina Bank Robbery

TOPEKA, KS—Albert Lawrence Vaughan, 41, Loveland, Colorado, has been convicted of bank robbery, U.S. Attorney Lanny Welch said today.

A jury in U.S. District Court today returned a verdict of guilty on one count of armed bank robbery and one count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.

During trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Vaughan was carrying a firearm on Oct. 15, 2004, when he robbed the First Bank of Kansas, 1333 W. Crawford in Salina, Kansas and that he brandished it and discharged it into a file cabinet located between two tellers. Trial evidence also showed that on Oct. 2, 2004, Vaughan brandished a similar firearm while robbing the Bank of Colorado in Grand Junction, Colorado, in an identical fashion.

Sentencing is set for Aug.18, 2010. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years on the armed bank robbery charge, and a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years consecutive to the bank robbery charge on the firearms charge. Welch commended the Salina Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Hough for their work on the case.