A Tacoma, Washington gang member was sentenced today to 13 years in prison for his role in a violent, take-over style bank robbery ring, announced U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan.

Anthony V. Mosley, 46, joined with six other defendants in a series of bank robberies in Washington, Ohio, and Michigan.  Sometimes Mosley was the get-away driver, sometimes he was in the robbery team threatening and demanding money in the banks.  He played a key role in the Western Washington robberies providing a place for the LA-based gang to stay, and obtaining rental cars in the names of an innocent associate.

Mosley entered into the robbery ring just six weeks after getting out of federal prison for a supervised release violation in connection with a previous bank robbery conviction.  At sentencing U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones said the ring was “highly sophisticated… operating with military precision” and he noted that Mosley was a “utility player… whatever role was necessary, you fulfilled that role.”

“The robberies victimized bank tellers and bank customers – people who are forever changed just because they stood in the way of the defendant and his gang,” said U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan.  “I commend the FBI and the South Sound Gang Task Force for their innovative work to identify and arrest this bank robbery ring.”

According to records filed in the case, various members of the seven member ring participated in one or more of a string of takeover-style bank robberies in Washington, Ohio and Michigan.  During the robberies, subjects entered the banks in groups, covered head to toe in loose clothing and gloves, and demanded money while jumping over teller counters.

The four robberies in Washington were: the May 25, 2012 robbery of a Wells Fargo branch on Pacific Avenue South in Tacoma; the September 6, 2012, robbery of a U.S. Bank Branch on Bridgeport Way in Lakewood; and the December 20, 2012, robbery of a Wells Fargo Bank branch on 132nd Avenue NE in Kirkland.  In their plea agreements, various members of the gang admitted to participating in different robberies in Saline, Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor, Temperance, and Jackson, Michigan, and Toledo, Ohio.

The other defendants in this case are Jeanine M. Daniels, 32; Charles A. Williams, 40; Kevin L. Brown, 38; Curtis W. Smith, 22; and Douglas L. Smith, 22, all of Los Angeles, California; and Janalisa Estrada, 33, of Hollywood, California.  All have entered guilty pleas and have been sentenced, or will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones over the next few months.

The South Sound Gang Task Force (SSGTF) in Washington arrested five of the subjects on December 22, 2012 on state bank robbery charges.  The SSGTF arrested the subjects as they prepared to board a Greyhound bus to Los Angeles, California.  Investigators were waiting at the bus station, based upon information that the group frequently traveled to Los Angeles by Greyhound bus within days of a bank robbery.

The Tacoma-based SSGTF investigated the robberies in Washington in partnership with the Lakewood Police Department’s Gang Unit and the FBI Seattle Safe Streets Task Force.  The SSGTF is composed of members of the FBI Seattle Division, Lakewood and Tacoma Police Departments, the Washington State Patrol, the Washington State Department of Corrections, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).  FBI entities nationwide collaborated in the investigation, including the Los Angeles Field Office and the Ann Arbor, Denver, and Toledo Resident Agencies.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Michael Dion and Kate Crisham