May 20, 2003 – A man who admitted to robbing the Bank of St. Croix and two other banks in Palm Beach County, Florida, has been sentenced to 12½ years in prison in Florida for the three crimes, federal authorities announced on Tuesday.
The prosecution of Shawn Bass, 30, for robbery of the Bank of St. Croix on Jan. 31, 2002, was transferred to the Southern District of Florida to be consolidated with the charges he faced there, U.S. Attorney David Nissman stated in a release.
Bass was convicted in Florida on his guilty plea entered on March 14. In addition to the St. Croix robbery, he admitted robbing the Grand Bank in West Palm Beach, on Nov. 28, 2001, and the Bank of America in Lake Worth on Dec. 19, 2001.
According to the release, $13,671.95 was taken from the Bank of St. Croix, $1,560 was taken from the West Palm Beach bank and $3,569 was taken from the Lake Worth bank.
Federal authorities said Bass initially faced a maximum statutory penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, a special assessment of $100, a period of supervised release of two to three years and restitution on each of the three counts.
He was ordered to pay restitution totaling $31,044 — an amount to cover the three robberies in the current case plus four additional bank robberies for which he had previously agreed to pay restitution, the release stated.
Patrick J. Daly, FBI special agent in charge, and Nissman jointly announced the sentencing, by District Judge Daniel Hurley of Florida's Southern District.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
