Mummy Bandit Gets 19 Years for Newport Beach Holdup

Mummy Bandit Gets 19 Years for Newport Beach Holdup

by Contributing Editor

A 58-year-old man known as the Mummy Bandit was sentenced to 19 years in prison this week, about a decade after being convicted of robbing a Newport Beach bank.

Jaime Reyes Torres was convicted Feb. 1, 2010, of five counts of second-degree robbery and a count of possession of a firearm by a felon, all felonies. Jurors also found true sentencing enhancements for the personal use of a firearm.

Torres, who was previously convicted in federal court of a string of bank robberies in the early 1990s, faced a life sentence in prison, but Orange County Superior Court Judge James Rogan struck the prior convictions during sentencing so the defendant could avoid a life sentence.

Torres most recently lost a bid to get the medical records of his trial attorney, who died of brain cancer five months after Torres’ conviction. Torres’ attorney, Roger Sheaks, argued the medical records were needed to determine if the attorney’s disease affected her representation of the defendant at trial, but Rogan denied access to the records.

Torres got the moniker from the FBI for the way he covered his face with a white cloth during his heists.

He was convicted of the May 24, 2008, armed robbery of a Wells Fargo bank at 21103 Newport Coast Drive. He fled with $50,000 in cash. The lengthy interim between his conviction and sentencing appears to be the result of his numerous changes of attorneys, motions to get new trials and other attempts to delay the legal process.

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All credit goes to Contributing Editor
Originally published on https://mynewsla.com