A bank robber was convicted at trial of robbing seven Front Range banks, often while brandishing a gun, authorities say.
Sammy Edward French Jr. was found guilty by a jury Friday of seven counts of bank robbery, said U.S. Attorney for Colorado Troy Eid and FBI Special Agent in Charge James Davis in a press release.
The jury deliberated less than 90 minutes after a five-day trial. French will be sentenced Nov. 10, officials say.
French was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on Sept. 13, 2006.
Four of the robberies happened in Colorado Springs, two were in Lakewood and one was in Littleton. French was armed when he committed three of those robberies, according to court records.
“This was a case of runaway violence, which Mr. French can contemplate from a prison cell,” Eid said in a statement.
The case was investigated by the FBI, the Southern Colorado Safe Streets Gang Task Force in Colorado Springs, the FBI Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force in Denver, the Colorado Springs Police Department, the Pueblo Police Department, the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office, and the Arvada Police Department.
French faces up to 25 years in federal prison for each of the three counts of armed bank robbery. He faces up to 20 years in prison for each of the four bank-robbery counts. He also faces fines of up to $250,000 for each count.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
