Leader of Robbery Ring Receives Life Sentence
The mastermind of a home invasion and bank robbery ring was sentenced Friday by a Superior Court judge to life in prison, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said.
Alex Yepes, 30, was sentenced by Judge Charles Peven to one term of 35 years to life plus another life term, to be served consecutively, according to Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the district attorney.
Yepes was convicted in November of multiple counts stemming from the 1993 robberies of Trans-World Bank in Canyon Country and Coast Federal Bank in Northridge. Three of his partners, including two sons of a Los Angeles police sergeant, were found guilty and jailed for the same crimes years ago. A fourth suspect remains at large.
In both incidents, Yepes and his partners held families of bank employees hostage during the robberies. Yepes was also convicted of attempting a second robbery at the same Canyon Country bank.
Yepes was previously acquitted by a federal jury in 1994, but in a controversial move, the district attorney’s office filed state charges for the same crimes.
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