FBI - Federal Bureau of Investigation

11/18/2022 | Press release | Archived content

Man Charged for Robbing Banks in Arizona and Texas

EL PASO - A federal criminal complaint was filed Thursday charging a Tucson man with bank robbery.

According to court documents, Sherman Edward Lester Jr., 45, of Tucson, Arizona, robbed an El Paso GECU Credit Union at gun point on September 2, 2022. The robber obtained an undisclosed sum of money and fled the bank.

On September 14, 2022, Lester attempted to rob a US Bank located inside a Safeway Grocery store in Tucson. Forensic analysis of 9mm shell casings left at both crime scenes traced back to Lester.

Lester is charged with bank robbery and incidental crimes. The defendant remains in custody in Tucson and will have his initial appearance in El Paso before a U.S. Magistrate Judge within the next couple weeks and then the case will proceed to grand jury. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Hoff of the Western District of Texas and FBI Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey R. Downey, El Paso Field Office, made the announcement.

The FBI's El Paso Violent Crimes Task Force and the El Paso Police Department's Crimes Against Persons Unit investigated the case. The FBI Phoenix Tucson Resident Agency, with the assistance of the Tucson Police Department, investigate the attempted robbery of the US Bank and made the arrest.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Aguayo is prosecuting the case.

A federal complaint is an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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