Reno Man Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison for Threatening to Shoot Bank Manager

RENO, Nev. – A Reno resident was sentenced today to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release for making phone calls in which he threatened to shoot a bank manager, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Trutanich for the District of Nevada.

In November 2019, a jury convicted Robert Liesse of two counts of interstate communications containing a threat to injure another person. U.S. District Judge Howard D. McKibben presided over the three-day jury trial and today’s sentencing hearing.

According to court documents, Liesse, 54, made two phone calls to Bank of America call centers on July 26 and 27, 2018, threatening to shoot a bank manager. Liesse, who was adamant that he was not joking, told the manager specific details of how and when he planned to carry out his threats. For example, Lisesse repeatedly made threats such as: “I want the money available tomorrow or that guy is not going to see his family. I’m telling you right now. I have a nine millimeter, sixteen rounds in it.” Further, he slipped threatening and derogatory notes under a bank door and threatened three different bank call center operators. He also took a BB gun resembling a real pistol to the bank and pointed it toward security cameras.

The case is a product of an investigation by the FBI and the Reno Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andolyn Johnson and James Keller prosecuted the case.

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