OKLAHOMA CITY – An Oklahoma City man with two prior bank robbery convictions was sentenced to life in prison recently for committing three bank robberies in Chickasha and Oklahoma City in two months last year.
After a six-day trial, a federal jury on convicted Dwayne Edward Rasmussen of the armed robbery of Weokie Credit Union in south Oklahoma City on March 5, 2019; robbery of the Bank of the West in south Oklahoma City on March 18, 2019; and the armed robbery of Chickasha’s Community Bank of Oklahoma on April 30, 2019. The jury acquitted Rasmussen of the robbery of RCB Bank in Yukon on April 5, 2019.
Mark Drew Wilson, identified as the getaway driver, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit all four bank holdups and was sentenced Feb. 26 to 30 months in prison. He also was ordered to make $49,786 in restitution to the four financial institutions.
Besides receiving three concurrent life sentences (all served at the same time rather than consecutively, back-to-back), Rasmussen was ordered to make $37,784 in restitution: $10,473 to Community Bank, $9,190 to Weokie Credit Union, and $18,121 to Bank of the West.
The restitution order against Rasmussen and Wilson was “joint and several,” meaning it can be collected from one or both bandits.
In announcing his sentence, U.S. District Judge Robin Cauthron noted the impact of Rasmussen’s conduct on the victims. Also, records show Rasmussen already had two prior bank robbery convictions: in Oklahoma City in 1991 and in Joplin, Mo.
Rasmussen, 56, filed notice June 26 of his intention to appeal his life sentence to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.