A man known as the
”
No Face Bandit
”
who admitted to robbing banks of nearly $400,000 was sentenced
to 12 years in prison.
A man known as the “No Face Bandit” who admitted to robbing banks of nearly $400,000 was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
A federal judge also ordered Peter Klein, 50, of Aromas, to pay $360,418 in restitution, according to the U.S. Attorney Office. Klein will begin serving his sentence immediately.
Klein pleaded guilty on Jan. 11 to 11 federal counts of armed bank robbery, stemming from a year-long spree of robberies in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, according to prosecutors.
The Santa Clara County Office of the District Attorney also charged Klein with 27 felony counts of false imprisonment, robbery and possession of stolen property. Those charges, however, will be dismissed in favor of the federal decision, Deputy District Attorney Cindy Hendrickson said.
By pleading guilty to the federal charges, Klein more than halved his potential sentence. His charges in Santa Clara County alone carried a maximum prison sentence of 27 years and four months, according to prosecutors.
Klein’s motive in the spree “seems to be financial,” Hendrickson said.
“What’s unusual is to have someone that starts robbing banks at the age of 47 without any prior criminal history,” Hendrickson said.
Several banks hit in two years
Wearing a baseball cap, dark glasses and a stocking concealing the lower portion of his face, Klein robbed the Chase Bank on First Street at gunpoint March 27, 2009, police said. He ordered at least 10 employees and customers to the ground, according to police, who were alerted by an off-duty San Jose police officer stopped at a red light near the bank. The officer saw customers inside with their hands in the air and believed the situation looked suspicious.
Based on detailed witness accounts, police tracked down Klein, who fled in an SUV, within minutes.
Klein stole about $400,000 from various banks over the last two years, his schemes becoming more and more brazen as they went on, according to Hendrickson. Though police believe Klein used a replica gun to pull off his last heist, Hendrickson said it looked so real the victims had no idea it wasn’t.
“They thought they were going to die,” she said when requesting Superior Court Judge Hector Ramon to set Klein’s bail at $5 million soon after his arrest. “There’s at least one teller who won’t go back, she was so terrorized.”
Police emphasized the boldness of Klein’s crimes.
“The more (robberies) he did, the more and more bold he became,” said Sgt. Ken Binder of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office. Binder described the crimes as “heartless,” citing a robbery where Klein waved his gun in an 89-year-old man’s face.
Klein was set to next appear in court 9 a.m. today in Department 110 at the South County Courthouse in Morgan Hill, although it is unclear what will take place at that hearing.
