A judge sentenced the “Bearded Bandit” to 70 months in federal prison Monday for robbing a Nestor bank and two others.
Christopher Andrew Gibson, 26, of Vista, was ordered to pay $7,659 in restitution to all three banks by U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Huff.
The Wells Fargo Bank branch at 685 Saturn Blvd. was held up on Oct. 7, 2014, just two hours after Gibson was released from an Otay Mesa jail.
He had been in the George Bailey Detention Center for an unrelated offense.
The Wells Fargo bank lost $1,419, and two Chase Bank branches in Vista were robbed of $6,240 in October and November. The FBI released bank photos of the “Bearded Bandit” on Nov. 6, and a tipster identified Gibson that day.
Gibson participated in the Job Corps program in Imperial Beach, and he received his GED in 2008. He worked as a laborer at several stores.
His attorney, Thomas Matthews, urged a 30-month sentence while Assistant U.S. Attorney Renee Green recommended 105 months.
“Gibson has shown a complete disregard for the rule of law, as well as for the health and well-being of the victim tellers involved,” wrote Green in court papers.
Gibson implied he had a gun, though he apparently was unarmed.
Matthews said his client was diagnosed with bipolar depression and had head trauma early in life that left permanent damages affecting his cognitive abilities, he wrote in court documents. He was struck by a car at age three and suffered head injuries.
He pleaded guilty to robbing all three banks. Huff imposed 70 months for each robbery, but made each term concurrent with each other.
