Colorado Man Sentenced to Prison for Robbing Banks in Colorado and New Mexico in 2014 and 2015

ALBUQUERQUE – John Allen Pierceall, 55, of Denver, Colo., was sentenced this morning in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 77 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his conviction on bank robbery charges.  The sentence was imposed based on Pierceall’s guilty plea to robbing three banks, two in Colorado and one in New Mexico, between Aug. 2014 and Aug. 2015.

Pierceall was arrested on Aug. 24, 2015, on a criminal complaint charging him with robbing the US Bank branch located at 901 East University Ave. in Las Cruces, on Aug. 24, 2015.  According to the complaint, Pierceall robbed the bank by presenting a bank teller with a demand note stating that he was armed and would shoot if she did not comply with his demand for cash.

On Dec. 2, 2015, Pierceall was indicted in the District of Colorado, and charged with two counts of bank robbery.  The indictment alleged that Pierceall robbed the Vectra Bank Colorado in Denver twice, once on Aug. 14, 2014 and again on Oct. 7, 2014.

On Dec. 8, 2015, Pierceall plead guilty to a felony information charging him with three counts of bank robbery.  In entering the guilty plea, Pierceall admitted robbing the Vectra Bank Colorado on Aug. 14, 2014, and Oct. 7, 2014, and robbing the US Bank branch in Las Cruces on Aug. 24, 2015.  Pierceall further admitted that he committed all three bank robberies by handing the teller a demand note which stated that he was armed and would shoot if his demands for cash were not met.

In his plea agreement, Pierceall waived his right to have the Colorado bank robberies prosecuted in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, and agreed to have a federal judge in the District of New Mexico accept his guilty plea on those crimes. 

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the FBI, the Las Cruces Police Department and the Denver Police Department with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa A. Ong prosecuted the case.