Crime & Courts

Woman sentenced for robbing 3 banks in 3 days

A 41-year-old Anchorage woman with a long criminal history was sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison Monday for robbing three banks in three days to buy drugs last May, according to federal court filings.

Jennifer Trengove robbed three branches of the Alaska USA Federal Credit Union between May 24 and May 26, each time walking up to a teller and presenting a note demanding money, according to federal court filings. In one case, the note was scrawled on a napkin. Surveillance video captured her, wearing a Harvard sweatshirt, at the first two robberies, according to federal filings.

Case filings say Trengove was not armed during any of the robberies and did not threaten violence.

Sentencing memos described Trengove as a "repeat female bank robber" whose criminal history started with a felony car theft at age 13. She has previous convictions, including theft and drug charges in Washington and California. The money from the robberies went "directly to feed her (drug) habit," according to her defense sentencing memorandum.

An abusive childhood, more than 20 years of crack cocaine addiction and mental health problems don't excuse her behavior, prosecutors told the judge.

"The likelihood that this defendant will straighten her life out at this stage is not high," wrote federal prosecutors in a sentencing memo. "She has been through many, many treatment programs and yet repeatedly turns back to controlled substances."

Her most recent conviction before the bank robberies was for stealing from and physically abusing an 86-year-old man, the prosecution's sentencing document said.

U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Burgess said at Trengove's sentencing that there was little he could do at this point other than "protect the public" by giving her a long sentence, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Michelle Theriault Boots

Michelle Theriault Boots is a longtime reporter for the Anchorage Daily News. She focuses on in-depth stories about the intersection of public policy and Alaskans' lives. Before joining the ADN in 2012, she worked at daily newspapers up and down the West Coast and earned a master's degree from the University of Oregon.

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