A rather prolific serial bank robber who played fast and loose with other people’s money will spend more than a dozen years in federal prison following his sentencing today in Grand Rapids Federal Court for robberies including one last summer at the Four Flags Credit Union in Niles.
Acting U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge announced today that 33-year old Anthony Loose of Grand Rapids has been sentenced to 12-and-a-half years in prison for bank robbery. Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney also ordered Loose to pay $20,458.73 in restitution.
A federal grand jury had indicted Loose for a crime spree last summer that started with the robbery of a Comerica Bank in Lansing on June 3, 2016, followed by the hold up of the Four Flags Credit Union in Niles on July 13th, and one week later the robbery of the Fifth Third Bank in Big Rapids.
He was already on parole at the time of those crimes for yet another bank robbery. In each case Loose would tell bank tellers he had a gun, and he often commanded more than one teller to give him money. Several times he even demanded more money after the tellers had emptied their cash drawers.
Two days after his last bank job in Big Rapids, Loose was arrested at the Budgetel Inn in Grand Rapids following a brief standoff with law enforcement. FBI agents later received a letter that Loose had written to his girlfriend indicating he had hidden money after the robbery.
Following up on his letter, and a diagram he had drawn, the FBI agents discovered $4,700 hidden behind the drywall in the bathroom of his hotel room.
Loose entered a guilty plea in October to the Big Rapids robbery, and the remaining charges for the other robberies were dismissed as part of a plea agreement, however Judge Maloney was allowed to consider evidence that he had committed them in selecting a sentence for the Big Rapids robbery.
David Gelios is Special Agent in Charge for the FBI’s Detroit Division. He says, “The magnitude of the sentence imposed on Anthony Loose validates the collective and effective investigative efforts of the FBI and our local law enforcement partners to identify and arrest this serial bank robber.” He adds, “These investigative partnerships, enthusiastically supported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, are essential to our efforts to keep Western Michigan communities safe.”
The case was investigated by the FBI in conjunction with the Big Rapids Police Department, the Lansing Police Department, and the Niles Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexis Sanford.
