Local NewsCrime

Actions

Man convicted of 2016 Las Vegas bank robbery after escaping federal facility

Posted at 12:13 PM, Feb 22, 2018
and last updated 2018-02-22 15:13:01-05

A 68-year-old man was convicted of a 2016 bank robbery in the Southern Highlands area of Las Vegas. 

After a two-day trial, Richard Lee Canterbury was convicted of one-count of bank robbery. Sentencing is scheduled for May 30.

According to the indictment, on March 16, 2016, Canterbury entered a Nevada State Bank on Southern Highlands Parkway wearing a gray “fisherman” style hat, dark glasses, and a blue and white striped long sleeve shirt under a gray zip up vest, carrying a blue zip top bank bag. He approached a teller and showed a handwritten note which stated: “This Is A Robbery No Tricks Loose Bills Only Cooperate No One Gets Hurt Otherwise Everyone Dies.” The teller complied and placed approximately $1,901 and a GPS tracking device into the bag. Canterbury left the bank.

Soon after, using information from the GPS tracker and the description provided by the bank teller, officers with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department located and stopped Canterbury’s vehicle. Officers located the stolen bank cash, the blue zip top bank bag, the handwritten note, and the tracker in his vehicle. 

Canterbury was still wearing the clothes that he wore during the robbery. He was arrested and taken into custody. 

Canterbury was serving a 46-month federal sentence for felon in possession of firearms at the time when he escaped from the facility on January 27, 2016.

At the time of sentencing, Canterbury faces the statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.