A man who robbed a Roseburg bank as part of a series of bank robberies over a 4-week period in 2017 was sentenced Tuesday to 110 months in federal prison and 3 years supervised release.
Information from the United States Attorney’s Office in the Department of Justice said 67-year old Dannie Alston committed the robberies in Oregon and Southwestern Washington between August 7th and September 7th of that year.
Alston robbed the First Interstate Bank on Garden Valley Boulevard on September 7th, 2017 just after 2:00 p.m. The man left in a vehicle but was captured a short time later during what was called “a high-risk traffic stop” in Sutherlin. He was initially charged with third-degree robbery and first-degree theft for the Roseburg crime.
On February 21st of this year, Alston pled guilty to the Roseburg robbery as well as robberies at Chase Bank in Vancouver, Washington, and Wells Fargo branches in both Medford and Salem.
The release from the US Attorney’s Office said in each of the robberies, Alston tried to disguise his identity by wearing sunglasses and some by type of ball or ski cap. He communicated with the targeted tellers primarily through hand written notes or signs.
After the Roseburg robbery, police recovered the note he used at that bank, along with a starter’s pistol loaded with caps, a taser, sunglasses, a wig and $3,441 in cash.
The release said Alston is a career offender with a criminal history spanning 5 decades and 4 states. He has previous burglary convictions in California and Texas, robbery convictions in California, Florida and Oregon, as well as assault, theft and narcotics convictions. He has no known permanent residence.
During sentencing, U.S. District Court Judge Michael J. McShane ordered Alston to pay $11,748 in restitution.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Roseburg Police and other agencies.
The release said the case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods which is called “the centerpiece” of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.