Grand Forks Man Found Guilty on Bank Robbery Charges
| U.S. Attorney’s Office August 12, 2011 |
GRAND FORKS, ND—United States Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on August 11, 2011, Clifton M. Patterson, of Grand Forks, North Dakota, was found guilty by a 12-person jury of aiding and abetting the use and carrying of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Patterson had previously pled guilty to a related bank robbery charge. United States District Court Judge Ralph R. Erickson presided over the three-day trial.
On May 26, 2009, the Bremer Bank in Gilby, North Dakota, was robbed at gunpoint by William Randall Collins and Clifton Patterson. Upon entering the bank, Clifton Patterson, brandished a black handgun and ordered the teller,“Get down on the ground, get down on your stomach.” He proceeded to shout to the teller, “Cover your head with your hands and don’t look.” The handgun was left in the bank and later determined to be a Daisy CO2 pistol. Collins brandished a sawed off shotgun, specifically, a Mossberg, Model 88, 12-gauge shotgun, bearing serial number MN83602M.
Patterson then removed a black plastic trash bag from a trash can located just outside the walk-in safe and filled it with cash from the vault. He also emptied the teller drawer of money. Patterson then located a land line telephone on a desk just outside the walk-in safe and ripped the telephone and cable from the wall. After he removed the telephone cable, Patterson ordered the teller to place her hands behind her back and to not look up at him.
Patterson has numerous prior felony convictions including assault with the intent to commit murder, assault by stabbing, and four bank robberies using weapons. He faces life imprisonment.
Sentencing for Patterson has been scheduled for September 19, 2011, in United States District Court in Fargo, North Dakota. Collins had previously pled guilty to all three of the above charges and was sentenced to serve 319 months in prison.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Grand Forks Sheriff’s Department, North Dakota Highway Patrol, and Grand Forks Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Keith Reisenauer is prosecuting the case.