Las Vegas, Nev. – The man who held a boy hostage and shot a woman in the back while robbing a Wells Fargo Bank in August 2005, has been sentenced to over 20 years (245 months) in prison and 8 years of supervised release, announced Steven W. Myhre, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.

Jeremy Jermain Suggs, age 24, of Las Vegas, was sentenced yesterday evening, March 5, 2007, by U.S. District Judge Robert C. Jones. Suggs pleaded guilty last September to Armed Bank Robbery and Possession of a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence.

On August 3, 2005, Suggs entered the bank, took out a .22 caliber revolver firearm, and told everyone to get down. Suggs then grabbed a boy customer and held him hostage at gunpoint while he moved around the bank demanding money. Suggs fired one round from his firearm into the ceiling of the bank and demanded money, but the tellers were on the ground and unable to comply. Suggs fired a second round toward the floor and the bullet struck a woman in the back. Suggs finally released the boy and ran out of the bank. He was arrested later that day at the Tuscany Hotel and Casino. The victim who was shot in the back still has the bullet inside of her body.

At the sentencing hearing, the victim testified regarding the physical and psychological impact of this incident. The United States requested the Court to impose the maximum sentence recommended by the United States Sentencing Guidelines. Suggs' family members addressed the Court and asked for leniency. However, the Honorable Robert C. Jones was unmoved by these requests, and instead, sentenced Suggs to 245 months imprisonment – the maximum penalty under the Sentencing Guidelines.

The case was investigated by the FBI and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ray Gattinella.

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