HONOLULU - WALLACE J. SILVA, JR., 64, was sentenced on Feb. 15, 2018, to 188 months imprisonment by United States District Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi for committing four bank robberies in Honolulu in December 2016. Silva pled guilty to those charges on April 19, 2017, before Judge Kobayashi.
Kenji M. Price, United States Attorney for the District of Hawaii, said that according to the information produced before the court, Silva, during December 2016, went on a crime spree where he committed ten bank robberies in Honolulu. Although the indictment charged only four of those ten bank robberies, and Silva pled guilty to only those four, as part of the plea agreement he admitted to committing all ten bank robberies and agreed to make restitution for all ten robberies. Silva robbed First Hawaiian Bank, Bank of Hawaii, and American Savings Bank of a total of about $32,000. The court ordered Silva to pay restitution in the amounts of $1,990 to First Hawaiian Bank, $8,480 to Bank of Hawaii, and $20,281 to American Savings Bank.
According to information produced to the court, Silva had two previous bank robbery convictions in two entirely separate cases. In 1997, Silva received a prison sentence of 112 months for one bank robbery. In 2005, five days after Silva completed that prison sentence and while he was on supervised release for it, he began committing more bank robberies. He later pleaded guilty to committing four bank robberies, and, on September 6, 2007, he was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 151 more months in prison. The bank robberies for which Silva received his most recent sentence began within four months after his release in August 2016. Silva admitted during the sentencing hearing that he viewed committing a bank robbery as "going to work."
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Honolulu Police Department, and United States Marshals Service conducted the investigation that resulted in these convictions. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marshall Silverberg handled the prosecution.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
