Albuquerque man sentenced to 80 months in bank robbery spree

An Albuquerque man was sentenced last week to 80 months in federal prison for a series of bank robberies committed over a five-month period in 2021 and 2022.

Evan Lemmon, 29, pleaded guilty in February to nine counts of bank robbery and was sentenced July 6 by Chief U.S. District Judge William Johnson, federal court records show.

Lemmon was charged in March 2022 with robbing nine banks in Albuquerque from September 2021 through March 2022, according to a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for New Mexico in Albuquerque.

Investigators said Lemmon habitually wore a black gaiter face mask, a ball cap and a glove on his right hand, according to a statement issued by the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico. Lemmon typically passed a note to a teller stating that he had a gun and demanding cash, then fled in an older-model Honda CR-V with damage on the rear bumper, the complaint said.

On Jan. 21, 2022, FBI agents shared a description of the silver Honda with Albuquerque Police Department investigators, the complaint said. Ten days later, APD officers found a vehicle matching that description at a Walgreens and followed it to a residence in the 9500 block of Salem Road NE.

Federal agents obtained a warrant in February 2022 to track the Honda, which Lemmon used in a March 7, 2022, robbery at a US Bank in the 2300 block of Louisiana NE, the complaint said. Lemmon was arrested that day.

The FBI also executed a search warrant on Lemmon’s residence and recovered caps and items of clothing consistent with the robberies, as well as a paper believed to be a draft note that stated, “I HAVE A GUN GIVE M,” U.S. Attorney Alexander Uballez’s office said in a statement.