Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Man Gets 10 Years for ’93 Bank Robbery : Courts: Judge calls actions of Chad Pelch ‘vicious’ in holding officer’s family hostage and then forcing her to open vault in morning.

A federal judge in Los Angeles sentenced a Canyon Country bank robber to 10 years and a month in prison Tuesday for holding a bank officer and her family hostage overnight and then forcing her to open her bank’s vault, a prosecutor said.

Describing the actions of Chad Pelch, 24, as “reprehensible” and “vicious,” U.S. District Court Judge Laughlin E. Waters imposed the sentence on Pelch, who pleaded guilty in July to a single count of armed bank robbery with forced accompaniment.

Pelch was also ordered by the judge to pay about $27,000 in restitution.

“I’m pleased with the court’s sentence and I think it’s a just result,” Assistant U.S. Atty. David R. Fields said.

An attorney for Pelch could not be reached Tuesday for comment.

Pelch was one of four men sought in connection with the June 11, 1993, robbery, in which bank officer Toula Demosthenous and eight others were held overnight by gunmen at her Canyon Country home. The next morning, the gunmen accompanied Demosthenous to a TransWorld Bank in Canyon Country where they forced her to open the bank’s vault and then stole $107,689.

Another suspect, Alex Yepes, 25, is scheduled to stand trial Oct. 11 in connection with the bank robbery, Fields said. Yepes has been charged with conspiracy, armed bank robbery with forced accompaniment and the use of a firearm during a crime of violence,

If convicted, Yepes faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, Fields said.

Pelch’s older brother Brett, 26, has also been charged in connection with the case and is currently a fugitive at large, Fields said. A fourth suspect, Darren Patrick Towers of Saugus, pleaded guilty in December to the same charges now facing Yepes.

Yepes, Brett Pelch and Donald Sallee, 26, of Santa Clarita also face charges in connection with the Sept. 17, 1993, robbery of a Coast Federal branch in Northridge.

Before that robbery, a group of gunmen invaded the Canoga Park home of bank officer Terry Duranso and held her and four others, including twin baby boys, hostage. The next morning, the gunmen accompanied Duranso to her bank and forced her to open the vault, from which they stole $107,449.