NCJ Number
102193
Date Published
1986
Length
14 pages
Annotation
Data on 609 convicted bank robbers incarcerated in the Federal prison system as of June 30, 1983, formed the basis of an analysis of sentencing and parole decisions for Federal offenders committing crimes involving firearms.
Abstract
The 609 offenders were part of a random sample of 4,562 Federal offenders identified for an earlier study. The Parole Commission had made release decisions on all the subjects. The subjects fell into 3 groups: 305 used firearms or other destructive devices and were convicted of armed bank robbery; 146 used firearms or other devices but pleaded guilty to a less serious charge of unarmed bank robbery or were charged with and convicted of unarmed bank robbery; the remaining 158 did not use weapons and were convicted of unarmed bank robbery. The median sentence imposed was 180 months for the first group and 120 months for each of the other groups. Median time served was 72 months for the first group, 56 months for the second group, and 60 months for the third group. Thus, those who used firearms or destructive devices but pleaded guilty to or were charged and convicted of unarmed bank robbery served 4 months less time than the bank robbers who did not use weapons. Table, 5 figures, and footnotes.