California Man Receives 96-Month Prison Sentence for Robbing Albuquerque Bank

ALBUQUERQUE—This afternoon, Senior United States District Judge John E. Conway sentenced Alan Curtis Tukes, 59, a California resident, to a 96-month term of imprisonment to be followed by three years’ supervised release based on his federal bank robbery conviction. Tukes has been in federal custody since September 23, 2009 when he was arrested on a criminal complaint charging him with robbing the Compass Bank branch located at

13140 Central Avenue SE

in Albuquerque. Tukes was indicted by a federal grand jury on October 8, 2009, and on July 21, 2010, a federal jury convicted Tukes of robbing the Compass Bank after a two-day trial.

The trial testimony established that, on September 23, 2009, the Compass Bank was robbed by a man who entered the Bank wearing a black ski-mask and carried a black and red backpack. As he entered, the man yelled out “No, silent alarms! Tellers, all your hundreds!” After a bank teller responded to the man’s demands for cash, the man fled from the bank. Bank employees subsequently described the bank robber as an African American male, approximately 5'10" to 6" in height, with a medium to heavy build, a medium black complexion and a deep and scratchy voice. They also provided details about the robber’s clothing and backpack, which was described as black with red streaks.

Shortly thereafter and based on reliable information, officers of the Albuquerque Police Department followed a light blue vehicle driving west-bound on Interstate 40 to the Tahajaliee exit where they executed a vehicle stop. When they approached the vehicle, the officers observed that Tukes fit the description of the bank robber and noted that he had a deep voice. The officers arrested Tukes when they discovered evidence of the bank robbery, including a large sum of cash, a black ski-mask, a black backpack with red dye stains on it and clothing fitting the description of the clothes worn by the bank robber, in the vehicle.

Evidence presented to the Court by the Federal Bureau of Investigation revealed that Tukes is a suspect in a bank robbery in Rancho Cucamanga, California on August 5, 2009, as corroborated by evidence found in his vehicle when he was arrested on September 23, 2009, and that the red stains on his black backpack appear to be the result of a dye pack that was placed in his backpack when he allegedly robbed the Rancho Cucamanga bank. Court records also reveal that Tukes was previously convicted of two other bank robberies in California and admitted robbing three other banks in California, not including the Rancho Cucamanga bank robbery for which he has not been charged.

Assistant United States Attorneys Louis Valencia and Rumaldo R. Armijo prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Albuquerque Police Department.