California man sentenced to three years in prison for bank robbery

 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Randy Matthew Peraza, 48, of Needles, California, was sentenced on Jan. 27 in federal court to three years in prison for bank robbery.

Peraza pleaded guilty on July 9, 2020. In his plea agreement, Peraza admitted to walking into a bank in Roswell, New Mexico, on March 13, 2020, announcing, “This is a robbery,” and demanding money from a bank teller. As the teller gathered cash, Peraza applied hand sanitizer to his hands and used a lighter to light his hands on fire. Peraza then took money from the teller, left the bank, walked across the street and sat in the grass where officers responding to the bank alarm found and arrested him.

Upon his release from prison, Peraza will be subject to three years of supervised release.

The FBI investigated this case with assistance from the Roswell Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachel M. Feuerhammer prosecuted the case.