Modesto Tri Counties Bank Robber Sentenced to over 26 Years in Prison

FRESNO, Calif. — Lloyd George Kenney, 65, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii to 26 years and seven months in prison for an armed bank robbery he committed at the Tri Counties Bank in Modesto. The sentencing followed his conviction by a jury in December 2015 of armed bank robbery, using a firearm during a crime of violence, and of being a felon in possession of a firearm, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

According to evidence presented at trial, on the morning of May 25, 2012, Kenney robbed the Tri Counties Bank located inside the Raley’s grocery store at Floyd Avenue in Modesto. Kenney was armed with a semi-automatic handgun and was heavily disguised, wearing a hockey helmet, facemask, long black coat and gloves. He took $2,872 from tellers at gunpoint and fled on a bicycle into a neighborhood to the east of the store where he had parked a van earlier.

Within minutes of being alerted to the robbery, a Modesto police officer saw Kenney, who was still wearing the helmet, enter his van and begin to drive away. The officer pulled the van over and Kenney was taken into custody. During a search of the van, officers found the cash taken from the Tri Counties Bank, Kenney’s bike, a hockey helmet, a mask, a loaded Glock handgun and a loaded Browning handgun. While searching Kenney, officers found a police scanner set to channels used by the Modesto Police Department.

Court records reflect that Kenney had federal felony convictions in 1984 and 1985, as well as a felony conviction in San Mateo Superior Court in 1974.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Modesto Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Michael Frye and Mia Giacomazzi prosecuted the case.