Salem Resident Charged by Federal Grand Jury for Bank Robbery Indictment Alleges Defendant Robbed Three Banks in Clackamas and Salem
U.S. Attorney’s Office May 21, 2009 |
Portland, OR—Robert Paul Piekow, Jr., 36, of Salem, appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Janice M. Stewart on charges of bank robbery. Karin J. Immergut, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon announced that a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging the defendant with three counts of bank robbery, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, per count. Piekow was detained in federal custody
pending a trial date of July 21, 2009 before U.S. District Judge James A. Redden.
The charges stem from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Salem Police Department, and the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office. The defendant was originally arrested May 5, 2009, on a federal complaint charging him with robbing a Wells Fargo Bank in Clackamas County on April 7, 2009. The indictment alleges that defendant Piekow also robbed a US Bank in Salem on April 22, 2009 and a US Bank in Salem on May 1, 2009. According to the indictment, the defendant obtained approximately $1,841 from the three robberies.
An indictment is only an accusation of a crime, and a defendant should be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. The case was investigated by the FBI, Salem PD, and Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jane Shoemaker is prosecuting the case.