HARRISBURG—The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that U.S. District Court Judge Yvette Kane sentenced Tashan Lantiqua Layton, age 24, of Harrisburg, yesterday to 84 months in prison for bank robbery.

During the sentencing hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Terz stated that on March 30, 2013, Layton entered the Sovereign Bank branch at 519 South 29th Street, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, pointed a gun at a bank manager, and demanded money. Layton admitted to the Court that the gun he pointed at the bank employee was loaded. Customers were present in the bank at the time of the incident.

The 84-month sentence Layton received represents the high end of the guidelines range he faced. The Court rejected defense counsel’s request for a downward variance.

The investigation was conducted by the Harrisburg Police Department and the FBI.

A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

The maximum penalty under federal law is 20 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant’s educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.