Bank Robber Sentenced to 20 Years in Federal Prison

David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that James Bieu, 52, formerly of Farmington, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Ellen Bree Burns in New Haven to 240 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for a bank robbery spree in January 2011.

According to court documents and statements made in court, at approximately 11:40 a.m. on January 3, 2011, Bieu entered the Peoples United Bank located in a Super Stop & Shop grocery store at 22 Leetes Island Road in Branford. He then approached a bank teller and demanded, “Give me good money or die.” The teller gave Bieu $8,439. Bieu then placed the money in a grocery bag and fled the store.

On January 7, 2011, Bieu entered a branch of New Alliance Bank at 1246 Whitney Avenue in Hamden and handed the teller a bag and a note that read, “Give me your money. No ink in it or I’ll blow your head off.” The teller placed approximately $2,562 in the bag and gave it to Bieu. Bieu then fled the bank.

On January 29, 2011, Bieu entered a branch of New Alliance Bank at 322 Main Street in West Haven and handed the teller a note that read, “We know where you live, no dye money, give me all the 10s, 20s, 50s, and 100s now, got 15 shots in my gun,” and stated, “Give me all the big bills.” The teller responded that she did not have any big bills, and Bieu told her that he would shoot her in the head if she did not turn the money over to him. The teller gave Bieu approximately $5,584. After fleeing the bank, Bieu was subdued by bank customers on Main Street before being apprehended by West Haven Police.

On January 23, 2012, Bieu pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of bank robbery stemming from the robbery in Branford on January 3, 2011. He also has pleaded guilty in state court to the Hamden and West Haven robberies. Today, Judge Burns recommended that the federal sentences be served concurrently with the state sentences, which have not yet been imposed.

Bieu has been incarcerated since January 29, 2011.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of the Branford, Hamden, and West Haven Police Departments. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth A. Latif.