Mexican National Charged with Robbing Four Banks in Santa Fe

ALBUQUERQUE—This morning, Jaime Jesus Sanchez-Ramos, 22, a Mexican national, was arraigned on a federal indictment charging him with four counts of bank robbery. Sanchez-Ramos entered a not guilty plea to the indictment. Sanchez-Ramos has been in federal custody since his arrest on April 10, 2012 and remains detained pending trial.

The indictment charges Sanchez-Ramos with robbing the following four banks in Santa Fe, New Mexico, earlier this year: (1) the Century Bank located at 1790 Saint Michael’s Drive on January 26, 2012; (2) the New Mexico Bank and Trust located at 1549 Paseo de Peralta on February 15, 2012; (3) the Bank of Albuquerque located at 706 Saint Michael’s Drive on March 16, 2012; and (4) the U.S. Bank located at 3787 Cerrillos Road on April 2, 2012. The maximum penalty for a conviction on each of the four offenses if 20 years of imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.

Court records reflect that Sanchez-Ramos was arrested following the April 2, 2012 bank robbery of the U.S. Bank. After that robbery, the Santa Fe Police Department received a report that an employee of a home improvement store had retrieved evidence of the bank robbery, including a large amount of currency still bundled with U.S. Bank wrappers after observing a man put something into a trash can that was in the store’s parking lot. Armed with photographs taken by the store’s surveillance camera and a tip received by the FBI, law enforcement officers were able to identify Sanchez-Ramos as the man who allegedly robbed the U.S. Bank on April 2, 2012.

The case was investigated by the FBI and Santa Fe Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paige Messec.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.