2 Brothers Get 15 Years for 3 Bank Holdups

Two bank-robbing brothers whose brief career, between January and June last year, netted them more than $100,000, were sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison.

John and Chris DeMott, formerly of Fountain Valley, will serve a minimum of 10 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole under federal law.

The sentences were imposed by U.S. District Judge J. Spencer Letts, who added five years probation to each sentence.

John DeMott, 25, and Chris DeMott, 27, pleaded guilty to three bank robberies. The younger brother had been charged with seven robberies and the older with six.

Both also pleaded guilty to two counts of carrying and using a firearm in the commission of a federal crime of violence.

Pattern of Robberies

“They would both go into the bank,” said Assistant U.S. Atty. Carolyn J. Kubota, who prosecuted the brothers. “One of them would herd tellers into the vault at gunpoint. The other would gather the cash.”

They were sentenced for bank robberies at:

- Hawthorne Savings & Loan in Long Beach on Jan. 7, when $2,955 was taken.

- Coast Savings & Loan in Garden Grove on May 12, when $29,575 was taken.

- World Savings & Loan in Fountain Valley on May 28, when $80,512 was taken.

The DeMotts specialized in robbing small bank and savings and loan branches. They did not use disguises, Kubota said. The prosecutor declined to reveal how authorities learned of the DeMotts’ involvement in the robberies.