SANTA ANA, California – A San Bernardino County man who participated in a series of armed robberies attributed to the “White Glove Bandits” – because the thieves wore white, latex gloves in some of the robberies – was sentenced today to nearly 17 years in federal prison.

          Sheyenne Lee Parsons, 38, of Yucaipa, was sentenced to 201 months in prison by United States District James V. Selna. In addition to the prison term, Judge Selna ordered Parsons to serve four years of supervised release and pay $34,656 in restitution to the victimized banks and stores.

          Parsons pleaded guilty in August to two counts of armed bank robbery and one count of using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence. But in a plea agreement, Parsons admitted to participating in three armed bank robberies and three retail store robberies – two of which were armed.

          During one of the armed robberies, a father and his 7-year-old son walked into a Toys “R” Us in Redlands while Parsons and his cohorts were robbing the store. Store employees had difficulty opening the register during the robbery, so the robbers took the entire register with them.

          Parsons and his co-conspirators committed the robberies between April 14, 2015, and July 21, 2015. The spree started with a failed attempt to rob a bank on April 13, 2015. In addition to the Toys “R” Us robbery, Parsons was involved in robberies of a Community Valley Bank branch in Palm Desert, a Boot Barn in Upland, a David’s Bridal in Ontario, a Wells Fargo branch in Irvine, and a Chase Bank branch in Banning. During the take-over robbery of the Wells Fargo branch on June 11, 2015, Parsons collected more than $20,000 from victim-tellers, while another robber pointed a gun at bank employees and demanded money.

          “These robberies – particularly the armed robberies – terrified the employees and any customers present at the time,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo filed with the court.

          In 2016, Parsons was convicted in Los Angeles Superior Court of robbing a U.S. Bank branch in Culver City on April 30, 2015. Parsons is currently serving a five-year state court sentence for robbing the bank by using a demand note and wearing white gloves. The federal prison sentence imposed today will run concurrent with the portion of the state prison sentence Parsons has yet to serve.

          Two other men were charged with being part of the White Glove Bandits robbery spree. The cases against them are pending.

          The case against Parsons is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. During this investigation, the FBI received substantial assistance from the Redlands Police Department, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, the Riverside Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Ontario Police Department, the Culver City Police Department, the Banning Police Department, the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department, the Irvine Police Department, and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. 

          The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Vibhav Mittal of the Santa Ana Branch Office.