Man Pleads Guilty to Bank Robbery

A Thousand Oaks man who federal authorities say was part of a team that robbed 14 banks in Los Angeles and Ventura counties during a four-month spree has pleaded guilty to a single charge of bank robbery.

Marc Alan Miller, 23, pleaded guilty Monday in U. S. District Court in Los Angeles to the Aug. 4 robbery of a Bank of America branch in Newhall, FBI Special Agent Charlie J. Parson said. Miller faces up to 20 years in federal prison when he is sentenced.

Miller was arrested without incident Aug. 9 at the Thousand Oaks home of his wife’s parents, where he was visiting. His alleged partner in the robbery spree, Arthur Lara, 33, of Thousand Oaks, had been arrested the previous day at a Woodland Hills motel, Parsons said.

Miller and Lara started their string of robberies in April, when they robbed a branch of Citibank in Sherman Oaks, Parsons said. Staying in motels and using money stolen from the banks to buy narcotics, Miller and Lara began hitting banks frequently, FBI Special Agent Gary Auer said.

After their arrests, the men admitted robbing 14 banks, including three in Ventura County during a three-week period beginning in late June, Auer said. He said they did not display weapons during the Ventura County robberies.

Most often, Miller would drive the getaway car after Lara entered and robbed the banks, but Miller was the inside man in the Newhall robbery for which he pleaded guilty, Auer said.

Prosecutors accepted a guilty plea on the single count because it is often difficult to convict the driver in a bank robbery because of a lack of witnesses, Auer said.

Lara will be tried separately for the robberies.