Twice Convicted Bank Robber Sentenced to 13+ Years in Federal Prison

A bank robber who attempted to kidnap a Comerica employee was sentenced Thursday to more than 13 years in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.

Staci West League, 52, was charged via criminal complaint in May 2022 and indicted later that month. In September 2023, she pleaded guilty to bank robbery, brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, and felon in possession of a firearm and was sentenced Thursday to 165 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr.

In plea papers, Ms. League admitted to robbing a Comerica Bank in Irving, Texas, on April 29, 2022 while brandishing a 9mm handgun.

According to court documents, Ms. League entered the bank at 4:02 p.m., approached a teller, and asked to speak to a manager. When the manager approached her window, Ms. League announced she was committing a robbery and demanded cash. Both the manager and the teller went to the vault to retrieve the money, which they placed into a blue courier bag. When the manager presented the bag to the defendant, she drew a handgun out of her hoodie and attempted to verify an amount. The manager returned to the vault, put more money into the bag, and gave it to Ms. League.

Ms. League then pointed her handgun at another bank employee and ordered him to walk out the front door and to her pickup truck. Remarking that she needed a hostage, she ordered him into the truck. As the defendant got into the driver's side door, the employee was able to flee to a nearby fast food restaurant. Ms. League fled the scene. Ms. League immediately fled the scene and drove to the Irving Fire Department, where she told firefighters that she "did something very bad" as they waited for Irving police to arrive.

Law enforcement recovered the cash and the gun used in the robbery shortly after they arrested Ms. League.

The 2022 robbery was Ms. League's second bank robbery; she was convicted of robbing the same Comerica Bank in 2019. (That conviction was the underlying offense for the felon-in-possession charge. )

According to court documents, Ms. League entered the bank around 4:54 p.m. on June 14, 2019 with something concealed under a blanket, then announced, "I want large bills." A teller spotted a rifle peeking out from under the blanket, she went to the vault to retrieve cash, which she placed in a plastic bag and gave to Ms. League. The defendant said, "thank you" and walked out the front door.

She then drove directly to the police department to turn herself in. She pleaded guilty to bank robbery and was sentenced to 40 months in prison for that crime.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Dallas Field Office and the Irving Police Department conducted both investigations. U.S. Attorneys Robert Withers, Jordan Ganz (fmr), and Shane Read (fmr) prosecuted the cases.