Van Nuys Man Gets 3-Year Prison Term
A federal fugitive from Van Nuys, who was featured on the “America’s Most Wanted” TV show as a suspect in crimes in Florida and Massachusetts, was sentenced Monday in Minden. Nev., to a three-year prison term for failing to show up in court on a charge of trying to steal coins from a casino.
Douglas County District Judge Norm Robison imposed the sentence, the maximum possible, on Robert Thomas Hynds, 38, who had pleaded guilty earlier.
Hynds still faces charges in Florida of bank robbery and burglary and a charge in Massachusetts of assaulting a police officer.
Hynds was arrested last October on suspicion of trying to steal a $100 rack of coins from a Lake Tahoe casino. He was released but failed to appear for a hearing on the charge.
Hynds later called authorities, asking where he could turn himself in. He surrendered to police in Reno.
Three days after he was brought to the Minden jail, the “Most Wanted” TV program, which describes fugitives sought by law enforcement agencies, featured him in connection with the Florida and Massachusetts crimes. A Minden police dispatcher watching the show recognized him.
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