DNA Links Oakland Man To 2009 Modesto Bank Robbery

FRESNO, Calif. — A federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment today against Enouche Trosclair, 44, of Oakland, charging him with conspiring to commit armed bank robbery, armed bank robbery, and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

According to court documents, on December 16, 2009, three masked men, two of whom were armed with guns, entered the U.S. Bank on Tully Road in Modesto and robbed the bank of approximately $8,997. Officers discovered the get-away vehicle that had been abandoned, finding a cellphone, a beanie with eye cut-outs and gloves that had been used in the robbery. Law enforcement personnel obtained DNA from these items. In 2014, Trosclair’s DNA was collected pursuant to California law and was entered in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), a criminal justice DNA database. Trosclair’s DNA was matched to the DNA on items worn by one of the bank robbers.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Modesto Police Department. United States Attorney Kathleen A. Servatius is prosecuting the case.

On April 15, 2014, Trosclair was arrested and appeared on the charges in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, Sacramento. The Honorable Magistrate Judge Kendall J. Newman ordered Trosclair detained and transported to Fresno to be arraigned on April 29, 2014.

If convicted, Trosclair faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison for conspiracy, 25 years for armed robbery and up to life in prison for brandishing the firearm. All three charges are punishable by a $250,000 fine. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.