Homeless Man Sentenced in Bank Robbery Case
| U.S. Attorney’s Office October 18, 2011 |
EUGENE, OR—U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan sentenced a 38-year old homeless man, Thomas Joseph Burgoyne, to 48 months in prison following his guilty plea to bank robbery.
At his guilty plea hearing on August 9, 2011, Burgoyne admitted to using “force, violence, or intimidation” to rob the U.S. National Bank at 1717 West 7th Avenue in Eugene. According to the government’s sentencing memorandum, Burgoyne said nothing during the robbery but presented the teller with a note that read, “This is a robbery, please put $1,000 in the bag.” Burgoyne took off on foot with $560 in stolen cash. Agents arrested him the next day at a nearby motel. Police were able to recover all of the stolen cash.
According to court records, Burgoyne has a lengthy criminal history, including a previous federal bank robbery conviction. He had just finished serving a 36-month prison sentence for a 2007 bank robbery when he committed the second. Both robberies occurred at the same branch of U.S. National Bank.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney William “Bud” Fitzgerald.