Collier man gets 13½ years for bank robbery

A Collier County man was sentenced to 13½ years in federal prison Monday for robbing a Bonita Springs bank.

Edward Jose Diaz, 27, held up the Pelican Landing branch of Bank of America, 24550 U.S. 41 S., in October 2004. Diaz and authorities allege that he and his accomplice, a 25-year-old Fort Myers man, vaulted over the teller's counter, both with guns drawn.

The pair made off with $10,857.

"He had a serious drug-related addiction," John McGowan, Diaz's Naples defense attorney, said during the sentencing hearing.

Diaz, with an address also in Bonita Springs, was on drugs at the time of the bank robbery, McGowan said.

"Mr. Diaz has accepted responsibility for his actions," McGowan said, arguing for a lighter sentence. "He's realized it's a serious offense."

Diaz could have been sentenced to 12 years and three months in prison. The heftier sentence was the maximum penalty according to advisory federal sentencing guidelines. The weapons possession charge carried a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison, with a potential maximum of life behind bars.

U.S. District Court Judge John E. Steele also ordered Diaz to repay the $10,857 that was taken in the heist.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Michelland said Diaz cooperated with investigators and signed a plea deal about two months after his April 2005 arrest. Diaz agreed to testify against the 25-year-old Fort Myers man in an unrelated bank robbery case in Lee County Circuit Court, but that resulted in a mistrial.

The 25-year-old Fort Myers man was sentenced in April to 20 years in prison in another bank robbery. He must serve at least 10 years in that case. The man has not been charged in connection with the Pelican Landing bank heist.

Staff at the Pelican Landing branch declined comment Monday. A message was left for staff at its main office in Fort Myers, but a representative was unavailable for comment about the sentencing.

A federal grand jury indicted Diaz in March 2005. Diaz's arrest came during the "Operation Falcon" nationwide crackdown on wanted fugitives. He has been held in federal custody at the Lee and Hendry county jails since his arrest.

"We believe it has been substantial, but not yet complete," Michelland said of Diaz's cooperation with prosecutors.