Albuquerque Woman Pleads Guilty to Robbing Two Banks

ALBUQUERQUE—This morning in federal court, Laura Galloway Brooks, 27, of Albuquerque, pled guilty to an indictment charging her with two counts of bank robbery under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Brooks remains released on conditions of release under pretrial supervision pending her sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

At sentencing, Brooks faces a maximum sentence of 20 years of imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release. In addition, under the terms of her plea agreement, Brooks will have to pay full restitution to the victims of her criminal conduct.

U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said that, during today’s plea hearing, Brooks admitted robbing two Albuquerque banks on May 19, 2011. She first robbed the Sandia Laboratory Federal Credit Union located at 3707 Juan Tabo Blvd. NE, and shortly thereafter, she robbed the First Community Bank located at 3620 Juan Tabo Blvd. NE.

In entering her guilty pleas, Brooks admitted that, during each of the two bank robberies, she handed the victim bank teller a note demanding cash and threatened to use a gun.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Albuquerque Police Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly A. Brawley.