A National City man has been sentenced to 55 months in federal prison for robbing a North Island Credit Union branch in Imperial Beach.
A prosecutor recommended a 77-month sentence for Tulio David Gasca, 24, while his attorney urged a sentence of 46 months to U.S. District Court Judge John Houston in San Diego.
Although Gasca took $4,210 from a teller, a resident on 13th Street in Imperial Beach found $3,862 where he had hidden it among shelves in a backyard before he was arrested by sheriff’s deputies. The robbery occurred on March 5 and the resident found most of the money the next day and with it was a print out of an e-mail to Gasca.
Houston ordered Gasca to pay $248 back to the credit union. His attorney said Gasca committed the crime due to drug addiction. She wrote in court documents that he began using methamphetamine at age 15 and used the drug just before the robbery.
Gasca wore a mask over his face, and the teller asked him to repeat his robbery demand twice because she couldn’t understand what he was saying. An off-duty correctional officer was in the credit union and chased him into an apartment complex before losing sight of him.
Deputies used a canine unit to track him after they found his ripped t-shirt and a 100-dollar bill. A deputy caught up to Gasca and tried to stun him with a taser, but Gasca resisted and injured him. The sheriff’s ASTREA helicopter spotted Gasca where he was hiding under a tractor trailer. He has a prior criminal record.
