FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

For Information, Contact Public Affairs
Channing Phillips (202) 514-6933
E-Mail: usavae.press@usdoj.gov
Website: www.usdoj.gov/usao/vae

California man pleads guilty in Boston to 19 bank robberies, including 3 in the District of Columbia

Washington, D.C. - A California man, Rodney V. Brooks, has pled guilty to 19 bank robberies, including 3 in the District of Columbia, U.S. Attorneys Michael J. Sullivan (District of Massachusetts) and U.S. Attorneys Kenneth L. Wainstein (District of Columbia) announced today.
Brooks, 44, of Hayward, California, pled guilty earlier today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts before U.S. District Judge William G. Young to committing 19 bank robberies in California, Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Massachusetts.

At today's plea hearing, Brooks admitted that between May 21, 2005, and September 9, 2005, he robbed or attempted to rob seven banks in San Francisco, California, three banks in Washington, D.C., six banks in the Maryland suburbs of Washington D.C., and three banks in the Boston area, before being apprehended in Boston. In the District of Columbia, Brooks robbed the American Bank, located at 5600 Connecticut Avenue, NW, on July 12, 2005, making off with $1,720; the PNC Bank, located at 800 17th Street, NW, on July 21, 2005, escaping with $3,600; and the Eagle Bank, located at 1425 K Street, NW, on August 1, 2005, taking $4,000. These cases were charged in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and transferred by consent to the District of Massachusetts.

Sentencing is scheduled to take place on November 9, 2006, in Boston. Brooks faces up to 20 years of imprisonment on each count, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

In announcing today's pleas, U.S. Attorneys Sullivan and Wainstein praised the many Divisions and Field Offices of the FBI who participated in the investigations, including Special Agent Frederick Schmeid of the Washington Field Office. They also praised the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Waqar Hasib (DMA); Barbara Skalla (DMD), Tracie Brown (NDCA) and Barbara E. Kittay (DC), who prosecuted the cases.