Armed Bank Robbers Sentenced to Federal Prison

MEDFORD, OR—On Monday, May 17, 2010, Robert Alan Peters, 46, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for the 2008 armed bank robbery of the Umpqua Bank in Grants Pass, Oregon. Co-defendant Anthony George Arrigo, 56, from Grants Pass, Oregon, was sentenced the previous week to 10 years in federal prison for assisting Peters.

During the January 2008, robbery Peters brandished a .357 caliber revolver, fired a shot into the ceiling, and yelled, “Hold up!” Peters fired a second shot into the ceiling and ordered the tellers to place all of the money in a bag. He fled with $12,508. Peters and Arrigo were not apprehended until almost a year later, when investigators received a tip that Peters and Arrigo had committed the robbery. Peters was arrested shortly thereafter in Frazier Park, California; Arrigo was arrested in Grants Pass.

Investigation by the Grants Pass Police and Federal Bureau of Investigation disclosed that Arrigo provided Peters with the gun. Arrigo also made a diversionary 911 call during the robbery, and kept most of the $12,508 Peters stole from the bank. Peters claimed he was desperate and needed the money for his mortgage.

In addition to the prison sentences, U.S. District Judge Owen M. Panner ordered Peters and Arrigo to pay $12,508 in restitution to the Umpqua Bank.

This case was investigated jointly by the Grants Pass Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Kern County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Judith Harper prosecuted the case.