Leonard Nathaniel Heath, 50, was sentenced yesterday to 188 months in federal prison, after holding up an Inner Sunset Wells Fargo at gunpoint back in January. At the time, Heath was living in a Tenderloin halfway house, after doing a prison bid for a 1995 armed robbery.
On Wednesday, January 20th at 12:40pm, Heath entered the Wells Fargo at 2300 Irving and was greeted by an employee before announcing, "This is a bank robbery." According to the FBI, he then drew a pistol and "pointed the weapon in the employee's back" before steering them to the teller counters.
Heath ordered three workers "to hand over currency from the bank’s deposits at gunpoint" and "threatened to shoot several bank employees." After a teller complied, Heath said, "This is not enough. Give me all the fifties and the hundreds before I shoot you," according to an FBI affidavit.
Before absconding, Heath also stole $7,500 from a customer making a deposit, eventually fleeting with "more than $18,500 in cash."
Later that day, KPIX-TV reports that Heath deposited $800 in cash at the Civic Center Wells Fargo, where he was known to tellers as a "regular customer" who was going through financial difficulties.
On January 22nd, FBI agents arrested Heath; on February 4th, he was indicted in the Northern District of California for one count of armed bank robbery, which can carry a 20-year penalty. Rather than face a trial, he entered a guilty plea on July 12th.
After completing his prison term, Heath will also serve five years of supervised release, and has been ordered to make $18,696 in restitution.
The same Wells Fargo branch was robbed again in May when a woman with a handgun passed a teller a note demanding money. To date, no arrests have been made.
Financial institutions on Irving Street are recurring targets for armed robbers. ccording to police sources, easy access to 19th Avenue's and to steady vehicular traffic make fast getaways more likely.
