A serial bank robber who was sentenced to five years in prison for robbing banks while on supervised release for the same crimes was captured by federal agents this week.
Rickey Lewis, 59, was convicted in September 2022 after pleading guilty to federal charges for robbing several banks in the Los Angeles area while out on supervised release for previous bank robbery convictions.
He was told to surrender to the court and begin his prison sentence in January 2024, but he never appeared, leading to an arrest warrant being issued and a wanted bulletin being released by the FBI.
In the months that followed, the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service searched for Lewis to bring him into custody.
On Wednesday, federal agents from the FBI Fugitive Task Force located Lewis in El Monte, officials said.
Lewis will now face new charges related to violating the terms of his previous release, as well as likely charges for failing to surrender to begin his sentence.
Previously a resident of Willowbrook, Lewis’ 2022 conviction came after three successful bank robberies and one attempted bank robbery that took place over a six-day period in January 2019.
He robbed two JPMorgan Chase bank branches in Gardena and an International City Bank branch in Long Beach during that crime spree. He also tried unsuccessfully to rob a Bank of America branch in Downey.
During those robberies, Lewis threatened to shoot the bank employees, although it was “not apparent” that he was carrying a gun, the U.S. Department of Justice said at the time.
Despite covering his fingers with clear tape, investigators recovered a partial print at one of the crime scenes that matched Lewis’ palm print.
Lewis was already known to law enforcement, as he was on supervised release at the time for a string of robberies across the L.A. area more than a decade prior.
In 2006, he was convicted of six bank robberies committed in South L.A. and Inglewood, the DOJ said.
His 2019 bank robbery spree netted him only $4,035 in cash.
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