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Press Release

St. Joseph Man Sentenced for Second Bank Robbery

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Missouri

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Timothy A. Garrison, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a St. Joseph, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for his second federal bank robbery conviction.

 

Terry L. Hager, 50, of St. Joseph, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan, Jr., to 11 years and one month in federal prison without parole. Today’s sentence includes a 33-month term of incarceration upon the revocation of Hager’s supervised release in an earlier bank robbery sentence in a separate case.

 

Hager, who pleaded guilty on Jan. 3, 2017, admitted that he stole $13,957 from UMB Bank, 1211 N. Belt Hwy., St. Joseph, on March 5, 2016.

 

According to court documents, Hager was wearing a baseball cap, a bandana over his face, sunglasses and clear plastic gloves when he entered the bank. Hager approached a teller and motioned for her to be quiet by placing his finger to his lips then demanded that she give him all the money. After the teller emptied the contents of her drawer, Hager demanded the money from her second drawer, but she was unable to comply because she did not have a key for the drawer. Hager told the teller to get on the floor and called a second teller, who did have the key, over to the teller counter. (As this occurred, a third teller was able to push a panic button to alert law enforcement of the robbery). As the second teller was interacting with Hager, she attempted to press an emergency button, but he placed his hand over the button preventing her from doing so.

 

After he received cash from both tellers, Hager exited the bank. He later led law enforcement officers on a high-speed pursuit, traveling approximately 80 miles per hour through a densely populated residential neighborhood with groups of children playing near the street. Officers were forced to terminate the pursuit due to the significant danger to the public.

 

The next day, Hager was located at a local Wal-Mart store and placed under arrest without incident as he left the store.

 

This case represents Hager’s second federal bank robbery conviction. Hager, who was incarcerated for more than 22 years on his first bank robbery conviction, was released from federal prison and placed on supervised release on Dec. 2, 2013. He was still on supervised release for his first federal bank robbery offense when he committed the second.

 

On March 26, 2015, while on supervised release for his first federal bank robbery, Hager was arrested in Buchanan County, Mo., for second-degree domestic assault after a report that he threatened and physically assaulted a woman with whom he shared a domestic relationship. He was convicted of the offense on July 6, 2015, and sentenced to eight months’ incarceration. On Feb. 11, 2016, Hager appeared in federal court for a supervised release revocation hearing. After making a statement on his own behalf, Hager’s supervised release was continued with further instruction that his supervised release would be reviewed in 90 days. Hager committed the bank robbery approximately 23 days later.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alison D. Dunning. It was investigated by the St. Joseph, Mo., Police Department and the FBI.

Updated January 12, 2018

Topic
Violent Crime