Man, 20, Indicted in 7 Bank Robberies
A federal grand jury in Los Angeles indicted a 20-year-old Oxnard man Tuesday on federal bank robbery charges, officials said.
The indictment charged Jose Luis Villarreal with six Ventura County bank robberies and one Los Angeles County robbery in September and October, Lawrence Lawler, head of the FBI’s Los Angeles office, said in a prepared statement.
If convicted, Villarreal could face a maximum of 20 years in prison or a $5,000 fine for each robbery, Lawler said.
At the time of his Oct. 11 arrest, Villarreal was believed responsible for the largest one-man bank robbery spree in the county this year, said Gary Auer, head of the FBI’s Ventura office.
The FBI still considers Villarreal a suspect in 10 robberies, but the grand jury did not believe evidence was strong enough to indict him over the other three robberies, Auer said.
The indictment charges Villarreal with robberies at: Imperial Savings and Loan, 2671 N. Ventura Road, Port Hueneme; Bank of A. Levy, 2499 Harbor Blvd., Ventura; Santa Barbara Savings and Loan, 350 Esplanade Drive, Oxnard; First Nationwide Bank, 49 N. Moorpark Road, Thousand Oaks; Valley Federal Savings, 215 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks; Wells Fargo Bank, 460 Esplanade Drive, Oxnard; and First Nationwide Bank, 9051 Tampa Ave., Northridge.
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