"Bad Wig Bandit" Pleads Guilty to Ten Bank Robberies

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced that Matthew Charles Dehn pleaded guilty yesterday to 10 bank robberies and one attempted bank robbery.

In pleading guilty, Dehn admitted to robbing banks in San Mateo, Calif.; Redwood City, Calif.; Danville, Calif.; Los Altos, Calif.; Dublin, Calif.; Burlingame, Calif.; Newark, Calif.; and San Bruno, Calif., before being apprehended shortly after his attempt to rob a San Rafael, Calif., bank. Dehn stole more than $27,000 in the bank robberies.

During the robberies, Dehn disguised his features with a baseball cap and a coarse brown wig tied in a ponytail, earning him the nickname of the “Bad Wig Bandit.”

In two robberies, Lisa Monique Zamorano acted as Dehn’s driver. She pled guilty yesterday to one robbery and one attempted robbery.

Dehn, 47, and Zamorano, 32, of San Jose, Calif., were indicted by a federal grand jury on October 16, 2008. Dehn was charged with 10 counts of bank robbery and one count of attempted bank robbery, all in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a), and one count of conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. Zamorano was charged with one count of bank robbery and one count of attempted bank robbery, both in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a), and one count of conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. Dehn pled guilty to all robbery and attempted robbery counts.  Zamorano pled guilty to both charges against her, robbery and attempted robbery.

Both defendants remain in custody. Their sentencing hearings are scheduled for April 29 before the Honorable Phyllis J. Hamilton, U.S. District Judge in San Francisco. The maximum statutory penalty of imprisonment for each bank robbery count is twenty years. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

Dorothy Chou Proudfoot, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, and Philip Kearney,  Assistant U.S. Attorney, are prosecuting the case with the assistance of legal assistant Rosario Calderon. The prosecution is the result of a seven-month investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the San Mateo Police Department, the San  Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, the Danville Police Department, the Los Altos Police Department, the Dublin Police Department, the Burlingame Police Department, the Newark Police Department, the San Bruno Police Department, the Redwood City Police Department and the San Rafael Police Department.

Further Information:

Case #: 08-0728 PJ

A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney's Office's website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.

Electronic court filings and further procedural and docket information are available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

Judges' calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court's website at www.cand.uscourts.gov.