April Fool’s Robbery Earns Man 41 Years in Prison

U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Kovachevich decided last week that the joke should be on the Tampa man who decided to rob the First Bank branch in Lutz on April Fool’s Day 2011.

Kovachevich, according to TBO.com, sentenced Francisco Feliciano to 41 years and two months in federal prison in relation to the First Bank robbery and another incident that took place a few days later at the San Antonio Federal Credit Union.

Feliciano was found guilty of two counts of bank robbery, one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and two counts of carrying a firearm during the commission of a robbery, TBO.com reported. A grand jury found Feliciano guilty in June. The sentencing came down last week.

The Lutz robbery took place in the afternoon hours of April 1, 2011, when employees of the 21708 State Road 54 bank saw a suspicious man approaching the door. They locked the door, but the suspect broke in, said Pasco County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Kevin Doll at the time. Bank employees hid from the armed suspect, who eventually left without any money.

Two other men, Steven Trubey and Christopher Quinn, were also convicted in relation to the robberies.