Federal jury convicts Las Vegas man of Summerlin bank robbery

By Kailyn Brown

Wednesday, March 23, 2016 | 7:30 p.m.

A Las Vegas man has been convicted of robbing a Summerlin bank at gunpoint in January 2015, Nevada's U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden announced today.

Jerome Michael Bell, 26, was convicted Tuesday by a federal jury. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 20 and faces up to 20 years in prison on the most serious charge of armed bank robbery.

A second man involved in the robbery, 26-year-old DeShawn Walker, pleaded guilty March 1 to conspiracy to commit bank robbery and for using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence. His sentence is scheduled for June 1.

According to court records, Bell and Walker entered a Summerlin bank just before 9 a.m. wearing dark clothing, hooded sweatshirts, face coverings and dark gloves.

Bell was brandishing a loaded handgun and pointing it at bank tellers. Walker grabbed an employee from an office and threatened to kill the worker.

Bell took cash from some of the tellers and fled in a vehicle that had been rented by one of Bell’s relatives.

Law enforcement tracked the vehicle to an east valley location in Las Vegas, where the men crashed into a truck.

After trying to flee on foot, Bell was apprehended by police. Walker had jumped out of the vehicle before the crash and was located in a backyard shed and taken into custody.

“Using a firearm to rob a bank or commercial establishment is a very serious offense and typically harms multiple victims,” Bogden said. “We are working with our local police departments and the FBI to make sure these violent criminals are brought to justice, convicted and sentenced in the federal system.”