FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – One of the two men known as the “High Country Bandits,” who robbed dozens of banks in four states including two nearby credit unions, was sentenced to 18 years in a federal prison.
Ronald Capito, 53, of Show Low, Ariz., in January pleaded guilty to armed bank robbery and using a firearm during a crime of violence. He also must pay $74,249 in restitution.
Capito, who was considered the mastermind of the robberies, and co-defendant Joel Glore, 53, were accused of robbing 16 credit unions and banks at gunpoint in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. Glore was convicted of armed bank robbery and is scheduled to be sentenced in July.
The suspects, dubbed the “High Country Bandits” because most of the institutions they hit were in the high country of Arizona, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico, apparently gambled away the more than $170,000 they stole, including $17,262 taken during an Oct. 14 robbery at Arizona Central CU in Flagstaff and $2,872 stolen Jan. 29 from Land of Enchantment FCU in Santa Fe, N.M.
The method in all the robberies was the same: each was robbed by two men in small, rural communities at gunpoint and the suspects would typically flee on an all-terrain vehicle. One man would serve as the getaway driver.
Federal investigators caught the trail of the bandits after going through cell phone records from towers closest to some of the more remote bank robbery locations. The two men were put under surveillance, and one of the men owned an ATV that matched the description of the getaway vehicle in several of the robberies.
When investigators served a search warrant on Capito’s Show Low home, they found a mask, cash wrappers, clothing and a handwritten log with names of cities where robberies had happened.
Additionally, investigators found several newspaper articles about the High Country Bandits in Capito’s vehicle.
Gambling addiction appears to be the motivation for the robberies, said the FBI. Several of the robberies were in communities that were near casinos. The two men applied for casino player cards in Colorado just prior to one of the robberies there, according to court records.
