Man, 77, Pleads Guilty, Forgoes Trial in Robbery

A 77-year-old man insisted on pleading guilty Monday to bank robbery and forgoing a trial, even though he could be sent to prison.

Ray Lawrence Boeger of Huntington Beach, who robbed a bank teller in September, was asked repeatedly by U.S. District Judge Gary L. Taylor whether he was sure of his decision and aware of the possible consequences when he is sentenced in March. Each time, Boeger answered firmly, “Yes.”

Wearing a charcoal gray suit and teal tie, Boeger looked far different from the frail man, wearing a fake mustache and goatee, who walked into World Savings and Loan in Huntington Beach on Sept. 17 with an unloaded semiautomatic handgun and politely asked for $2,500.

As he slowly left the bank, witnesses noted his license-plate number, and he was arrested about two hours later at his home. Packs of dye in the money bag had exploded in his 1980 Cadillac, and the stolen money was recovered from the bank’s parking lot and the car.

Boeger admitted his crime to investigators, citing his mounting debts and his wife’s failing health.

“I was upset,” he said Monday as he walked briskly away from the courthouse with his attorney.

In an interview shortly after his arrest, Boeger said he got the “wild idea” after drinking 64 ounces of English ale and having a gripe session with his buddies about debts.

At times, Taylor seemed incredulous that Boeger insisted on pleading guilty.

“I doubt,” the judge said to his attorney, “that the court is able to do anything other than sentence the gentleman to prison.”

Boeger could have pleaded not guilty and received a trial, hoping for an acquittal.

He remains free on an unsecured $25,000 bond. He could face 25 years in prison, but both his attorney and the prosecutor said they expect a lesser sentence.

“It’s certainly likely that he’s going to spend some time in prison,” said Assistant U.S. Atty. Marc Greenberg.

H. Dean Steward, Boeger’s federal public defender, said outside court he hopes his client will be able to serve his sentence through house arrest or community service.

“He’s resigned to doing whatever the judge thinks is the right thing,” Steward said. Despite the judge’s comment, Steward said, “The judge has the power to give him a non-jail sentence, and it’s my job to convince Judge Taylor that it’s the right thing to do. If he didn’t have the gun, it would make my life a lot easier.”

Of the possibility of receiving a non-prison sentence, Boeger said, “There’s always that hope, but whether it happens, who knows.”

He said the ill health of his 78-year-old wife, Betty, is “pretty hard.” She is expected to begin kidney dialysis soon and will require treatments three times a week.

But Greenberg said the law does not allow Boeger’s family circumstances to influence his sentence.

“Lots of defendants have people who depend on them who are at a loss because of their failure to use good judgment,” Greenberg said.

Taylor ordered Boeger to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings three times a week and to find a less expensive place to live with his wife of 50 years.

“This,” the judge told Boeger, “is a very unusual case.”