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U.S. NEWS Saturday 7 March 2020
82-year-old with record of bank

robberies convicted again

By JACQUES BILLEAUD
PHOENIX (AP) — An
82-year-old man who spent
most of his adult life behind
bars for robbing banks was
convicted again for carry-
ing out an armed heist at
an Arizona credit union as
he struggled to adjust to life
Adilisha Patrom, owner of a co-working and event space next outside prison.
to Gallaudet University, organizes face masks, hand sanitizer Robert Francis Krebs fac-
and other supplies inside her pop up shop on Thursday, March es a maximum 25 years in
5, 2020, in Washington. prison after a jury found
Associated Press
him guilty Wednesday of
Washington, DC, gets armed bank robbery. The
January 2018 holdup in

its first coronavirus Tucson came about seven
months after he was re-
leased from prison.
pop-up shop Krebs served more than 30
years for a 1981 bank rob-
bery in Florida and was
sentenced to three years
WASHINGTON (AP) — The HAVE, just to have the abil- in prison after a 1966 con-
nation's capital has pop-up ity," to stock up on supplies, viction in Chicago for em-
shops for food and drink, she said. bezzling $72,000 from a
even marijuana. And now, The idea started with a bank where he worked as
coronavirus prevention health crisis in her own a teller.
supplies. family: Patrom's father was He also served an addi-
As local stores sell out of diagnosed with a blood tional 17 years for theft and
masks and hand sanitizer, cancer in November. With armed robbery convic-
Adilisha Patrom, owner of her father's immune system tions from Arizona dating to
a co-working and event weakened by ongoing 1980.
space next to Gallaudet chemotherapy treatments, In the Florida robbery, the
University, saw an opportu- Patrom bought boxes of branch manager and teller
nity and jumped on it. N95 facemasks, which are tripped a silent alarm and
Inside, her storefront, dif- considered superior to the were later put in the bank
ferent models of face basic surgical masks. vault. Krebs, who was ar- This photo released on Jan. 14, 2018, by the Tucson Police De-
masks and hand sanitizer Both she and her father rested as he walked into partment shows Robert Francis Krebs, who has a decades-long
criminal record for stealing from banks.
bottles in various sizes are wear the masks routinely the bank's parking lot, was Associated Press
displayed along a stack of when going to the grocery disguised in a wig, had
information sheets from the store or elsewhere around cotton in his cheeks and Krebs was mentally fit to eral Credit Union branch on
Centers for Disease Control town. varnished his fingertips to stand trial despite his claim Tucson's northern edge, put
and Prevention. On Thurs- As the global coronavirus leave no fingerprints, ac- that he has symptoms of Al- a handgun that turned out
day, one man stopped by, death toll increased and cording to news accounts zheimer's disease. to a BB gun on the counter
asked how much the masks the virus began making by The Orlando Sentinel. Two mental health experts and demanded cash.
cost and then left. inroads in the U.S., Patrom Krebs' attorney, Leonardo said Krebs was mentally Authorities say he walked
A Florida native who came decided to stock up on Costales, didn't immedi- competent and believed away with nearly $8,400
to Washington to attend hand sanitizers and open ately return a phone call he was malingering, with and later told investigators
Howard University, Patrom, her shop. So far, business and email Friday seeking one expert saying Krebs that he almost got struck
29, sells her masks for be- has been slow. Patrom said comment on his client's lat- had "embellished or grossly by a vehicle while crossing
tween $5 and $20, de- she has only made three est conviction. exaggerated" his condition a roadway. He was later ar-
pending on the model. She sales since opening early Krebs told investigators that to avoid prosecution. rested at a hotel.
also puts together preven- this week. The majority of he didn't wear a disguise The judge who declared Bank robbery experts say
tion kits with masks, surgical her visitors, she says, are just in the 2018 Tucson robbery Krebs psychologically fit it's unusual for older people
gloves and sanitizer, which seeking basic information because he wanted to said he was able to meticu- to hold up lending institu-
sell for $20 to $30. and walking away with a get caught and return to lously tell FBI agents how he tions. Typically, bank rob-
The high-end N95 masks CDC fact sheet. prison, according to court planned and carried out bers are in their 20s.
are priced at about twice "I think people haven't records. the robbery. J.L. Hunter "Red" Rountree,
what they sell for on Ama- started freaking out yet," Documents say he also told Prosecutors said Krebs de- who has been dubbed
zon. But Patrom says her she said. "A lot of people authorities that he commit- cided the credit union was America's oldest bank
goal isn't to get rich. Rath- are just waiting for that first ted the robbery because an easy target because robber, was convicted of
er, she sees the shop as a (local case)." his monthly $800 Social there was no glass separat- committing two robberies
service to the community Asked what she thought Security payment wasn't ing customers and tellers in his mid-80s and was 91 at
and says discounts are would happen the day af- enough to live on and that and that he picked a lend- the time of his last heist in
available to those in need ter the first coronavirus case the months before the rob- ing institution near a mall, the early 2000s. He robbed
and to senior citizens, who is identified in the nation's bery were the worst in his where it would be harder banks in Mississippi, Florida
are most vulnerable to the capital, Patrom shuddered life. for police to find him. and Texas.
virus. and said, "There will be a Last summer, a judge ruled Authorities said Krebs Rountree died in prison at
"I just feel so blessed to line down the block."q walked into a Pyramid Fed- age 92.q