Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

Desi 'Bombshell Bandit' pleads guilty to bank robberies

Last updated on: January 13, 2015 10:11 IST

Sandeep Kaur could face up to 20 years for each robbery. Ritu Jha/Rediff.com reports from California.

An Indian American, dubbed as the 'Bombshell Bandit' by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, on Monday, January 12, pleaded guilty to robbing banks at the US Federal District Court in Utah.

Sandeep Kaur, 24, a resident of Union City, California, pleaded guilty to four counts of bank robberies before Magistrate Judge Robert T Braithwaite.

"The sentence is set for April 7," Rydalch Melodie, the Public Information Officer at the US Department of Justice in Utah told Rediff.com

"For each bank robbery, the potential sentence could be up to 20 years," Melodie added.

On July 31, 2014, Kaur was arrested following a long chase involving law enforcement officers of three states for robbing the US Bank in St George, Utah.

According to the police complaint filed against Kaur at the Clark County District Attorney's Office in July 2014, in Nevada, Kaur was charged with criminal and traffic offences in Nevada, including resisting an officer with a deadly weapon, attempt to disobey a police officer, endangering persons and property, and aggressive driving.

It was only after her arrest that the FBI discovered she was the suspect in three other bank robberies.

On July 14, Kaur robbed the Commerce Bank in San Diego; on July 8, she robbed the Wells Fargo bank in Arizona; and on June 6, the Bank of the West again in California.

A relative said Kaur was born in the US and is a nurse by training. She was pursuing a master's in healthcare at California State University, Long Beach.

According to the relative Kaur was very excited that she was accepted at the California State University. She moved to Long Beach, California, for higher studies just two months before her career in crime began.

Ritu Jha/Rediff.com in California