88-year-old Montana man teaches his grandson to rob banks - they're both going to prison for 2 years

Steven Whitecloud was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2008 for bank robbery. But he didn't let that stop him from teaching his grandson to rob banks.

The two of them robbed 2 banks in 4 days in 2023 - but the cops saw jr. bankrobber jumping into the getaway car, and 88 year old gramps led the cops on a high speed chase.

They didn't get away.

Both are going to prison for 2 years - but thats probably a death sentence for gramps - because grandpa has stage 5 lung cancer in remission, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hepatitis C, high blood pressure, arthritis and scoliosis. He requires the use of supplemental oxygen and has limited mobility.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/bank-robber-88-heads-prison-153357371.html

An 88-year-old man will head to prison for robbing two Montana banks.

Steven Whitecloud, 88, was sentenced to two years in prison and three years supervised release for the robberies, a federal judge in Montana ruled this week. He previously pleaded guilty to his roles in the heists.

Co-defendant Patrick Justice, 26, was previously sentenced to two years in prison for his role.

On August 24, 2023, Justice entered a Billings U.S. Bank and gave the teller a note demanding money. He got the funds and fled the area in a Ford Taurus.

Four days later, Justice went into a Billings Wells Fargo Bank demanding money. He also told the teller he was “strapped,” which the worker took to mean the suspect had a gun, prosecutors said.

Justice got the money and fled in a Taurus. Responding officers spotted the green Taurus and tried to pull it over. But it sped away.

After a chase, officers got the vehicle to stop and found Justice and Whitecloud inside.

Whitecloud told officers he suggested the two rob banks, as he had done in the past, as a way to make money.

Whitecloud was convicted in 2008 of bank robbery, prosecutors said. He said he told Justice how to rob a bank and acted as the getaway driver.

In addition to the prison sentence, the federal judge ordered Whitecloud to pay $3,092 in restitution.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/88-year-montana-man-getaway-driver-bank-robberies-111329875

ABC News:

BILLINGS, Mont. -- An 88-year-old Montana man has been sentenced to two years in a federal prison medical facility for being the getaway driver in two bank robberies in Billings last summer, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Montana said.

The man was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty in February to two counts of bank robbery. He was ordered to pay nearly $3,100 in restitution and will be on supervised release for three years after he finishes his prison sentence.

U.S. District Court Judge Susan Watters ordered him to report to the U.S. Marshals Service, after which he would be sent to a Bureau of Prisons medical facility.

The man and his co-defendant were arrested after the second robbery in August 2023 in a car matching the description of the car involved in the first bank robbery just four days earlier, prosecutors said. The defendant told investigators he suggested he and the co-defendant rob banks to get money, as he had done in the past. The defendant pleaded guilty to bank robbery in 2008, when he was 72.