Sacramento Resident Sentenced To Over Seven Years In Prison After Committing Four Armed Bank Robberies

OAKLAND – Clayton Quiz Smith was sentenced today to 87 months in prison for the armed robbery of three banks in the East Bay and one bank in Folsom, Calif., announced Acting United States Attorney Alex G. Tse and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett.  The sentence was handed down today by the Honorable Jon S. Tigar, U.S. District Judge.

Smith, 45, from Sacramento, pleaded guilty on October 6, 2017, to four separate counts of armed bank robbery.  According to the plea agreement, Smith began the robbery spree on February 6, 2017, when he robbed a bank in San Ramon.  Smith admitted he entered a bank wearing a jacket, hooded sweater, beanie, and gloves, and was carrying a black laptop bag.  He placed the bag on the counter in front of the bank tellers and removed from his pocket what appeared to be a small silver pistol.  Smith displayed the apparent pistol to a teller and demanded the $100 bills and $20 bills from the teller’s drawer.  Smith escaped with $7,434.

Smith committed a second armed robbery at the same bank in San Ramon on March 21, 2017.  He encountered the same victim whom he forced to accompany him out of the bank on February 6, 2017.  This time, Smith pointed the object that appeared to be a revolver toward the victim and demanded the bills from her drawer.  Smith escaped with $3,500. 

According to the plea agreement, Smith admitted he committed two additional armed robberies—one on April 4, 2017, and the other on April 20, 2017.  During the April 4 robbery, Smith brandished what appeared to be a 6-inch silver-colored blade at a Concord, Calif. bank.  Smith repeatedly yelled, “Hands up!” while brandishing the knife.  He told two tellers to give him the money in their drawers and ordered them not to pull any alarms until he left.  Smith escaped with $5,275.  Similarly, during the April 20 robbery, Smith entered a bank in Folsom, Calif., wielding what appeared to be a steak knife.  Smith approached the four tellers on duty, pointing the object at the first victim.  Smith told the victim, “Don’t call the cops. Don’t set off any alarms. Take the money and set it down on the counter.”  He stole a total of $11,895 from the drawers of the four tellers on duty that day.

Smith was charged in an Information filed August 16, 2017, with four counts of armed bank robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) and (d).  Pursuant to his plea agreement, Smith pleaded guilty to all four counts.  

In addition to the prison term, Judge Tigar also sentenced the defendant to a five-year period of supervised release and ordered him to pay $28,104 in restitution.  Smith has been in custody since his arrest on May 4, 2017, and will begin serving his sentence immediately.  

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christina McCall is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Vanessa Quant and Noble Hughes.  The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the San Ramon Police Department, the Concord Police Department, and the Folsom Police Department.