In U.S. District Court in Portland Jan. 14, U.S. District Judge George Singal sentenced Duane Toothaker, 42, of Bristol, to 57 months in prison for bank robbery. The sentence was imposed following Toothaker’s guilty plea entered in September 2012.
According to the government’s evidence, two male juveniles robbed a University Credit Union branch office in Portland on Dec. 21, 2011 by presenting a demand note to the teller.
Toothaker assisted the juveniles in committing this robbery by writing the demand note used in the robbery; providing the juveniles with advice on how to commit the robbery; driving the juveniles to the credit union to commit the robbery; waiting nearby in his vehicle while the robbery was being committed and driving the juveniles away from the scene of the robbery after they committed it.
In pronouncing sentence, Judge Singal noted that a 57-month sentence is appropriate in light of, among other things, Toothaker’s two prior robbery convictions and the involvement of juveniles in this offense.
United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II said that the success of this case is based on the cooperative investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Portland Police Department, Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Topsham Police Department.
