L.A. man gets 5 years for bank robberies committed while on supervised release for robbing banks
A Willowbrook man has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for a bank robbery spree committed while he was on supervised release for bank robbery convictions that occurred over a decade ago, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Rickey Lewis, 54, was also ordered to pay $4,035 in restitution.
The sentencing comes about a year after Lewis pleaded guilty to three counts of bank robbery and one count of attempted bank robbery committed during a six-day spree, officials said.
From Jan. 22 to Jan. 28, 2019, Lewis stole $4,035 in cash by robbing two Chase bank branches in Gardena and an International City bank in Long Beach, officials said. He also tried to rob a Bank of America branch in Downey.
Lewis threatened to shoot bank tellers, though it was not obvious that he was armed, and he had clear tape on his fingers, officials said.
Bank tellers handed over the cash in each incident in fear for their lives.
Amid the investigation, authorities recovered a partial palm print recovered from the Long Beach scene that matched Lewis’.
During the series of robberies, Lewis was on supervised release after pleading guilty in February 2006 to a month-long robbery spree in which he hit six banks in South Los Angeles and Inglewood, officials said.
The latest spree was investigated by the FBI, with help from the Long Beach, Downey and Gardena police departments, as well as the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department.
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