Man Admits Committing Several Violent, Takeover-Style Armed Bank Robberies
Co-Conspirator Also Murdered a Brinks Security Guard

DALLAS—Jesus Sandoval, 50, appeared in federal court this morning and pleaded guilty, before U.S. District Judge Barbara M. G. Lynn, to his role in three violent, takeover-style armed bank robberies that he and co-conspirator Enrique Lopez, 28, committed in 2009, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.

Specifically, Sandoval pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank robbery and two counts of using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. The conspiracy count carries a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and each of the firearm counts carry a maximum penalty of life in prison. Each count also carries a maximum potential fine of $250,000. Sentencing is set for May 10, 2013, at 1:30 p.m., before Judge Lynn.

Sandoval and Lopez were arrested by officers with the Balch Springs Police Department, as they fled the scene after committing the armed robbery of the Chase Bank on Lake June Road in Balch Springs, Texas, on October 3, 2009.

Lopez was sentenced in October 2012 to two life sentences plus 85 years in federal prison for murdering a Brinks Security Guard and committing five violent, takeover-style armed bank robberies.

Factual resumes filed in the case detail the robberies. On February 13, 2009, Lopez and Sandoval, armed with firearms, robbed a Loomis security guard as he replenished cash in an automatic teller machine (ATM) located at the Bank of America on Camp Wisdom Road in Dallas. Lopez grabbed the guard from behind, put a pistol to his neck, threatened to kill him, and demanded money. The two took the guard’s service weapon and money bags, and Lopez fired at the Loomis driver.

On August 1, 2009, Lopez and Sandoval, each armed with a firearm, robbed the Wachovia Bank located at 39703 Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway, in Dallas, threatening bank employees with death during the course of the robbery. After taking the cash, they fled in a vehicle fitted with stolen license plates.

On the morning of October 3, 2009, Sandoval and his accomplice, Lopez, each armed with a loaded pistol, entered the Chase Bank located at 12329 Lake June Road in Balch Springs. The bank was celebrating its grand opening and more than 40 people were in the bank. Lopez and Sandoval, with their pistols, threatened the lives of the people inside the bank and claimed they had a bomb in the backpack that would detonate if anyone notified the police. Following a high-speed chase, Lopez and Sandoval were arrested. Police recovered the loaded pistols, the bank’s money, and the backpack from the car, which, while it did not contain a bomb, contained two boxes of ammunition.

The case was investigated by the FBI, the Dallas Police Department, and the Balch Springs Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brandon McCarthy and Jerri Sims prosecuted.