Kalamazoo Man Gets 30 Months For Bank Robbery

          GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN - U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge announced today that Daniel Augustine Solis, 28, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, was sentenced to serve 30 months in the Federal Bureau of Prisons for bank robbery. Chief U.S. District Judge Robert J. Jonker also imposed a period of supervised release of 3 years and ordered Solis to pay $7038.50, in restitution.

          On February 12, 2020, Solis entered the Chase Bank located at 141 E. Michigan Avenue, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He used a demand note to rob a teller and fled with $7,038.50 in cash. A Kalamazoo Township law enforcement officer recognized Solis from the bank surveillance photo. When confronted by police, Solis confessed to robbing the bank and claimed that he just wanted to see what it felt like, and if he was successful, he might try it again.

          At sentencing, Chief Judge Jonker rejected Solis’s request for leniency and the claim that the robbery was out of character for him. Judge Jonker emphasized the research and preparations that Solis made and seriousness of bank robbery.

          In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Birge stated, “Bank robbery is not a ‘life experience.’ It is a serious violent offense, often resulting in sobering life-altering consequences for the victims. My office and our partners at the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, Kalamazoo Township Police and at the FBI are committed to holding bank robbers accountable.”

          This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Mekaru,and investigated by the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, Kalamazoo Township Police, and the FBI.