Crime & Courts

Anchorage man sentenced to 5 years for robbing 2 banks

A 25-year-old Anchorage man was sentenced in federal court Thursday to five years for robbing two South Anchorage banks earlier this year.

Cameron Patrick Fergerson, 25, was sentenced in Anchorage on two counts of bank robbery. He pleaded guilty to the charges in April, according to federal court records.

The first robbery was at Credit Union 1 on Abbot Road on February 25. Fergerson approached a bank teller and demanded money with a note, according to a federal complaint. As the teller was counting out the cash, Fergerson "snatched $1,600 from her then ran out the door," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Alaska.

Several days later, Fergerson entered the Alaska USA bank on Dimond Boulevard and again discreetly demanded money. The bank teller handed over a little more than $2,000, which Fergerson stuffed into his pockets before fleeing.

Earlier in the day, Fergerson tried to rob another Credit Union 1 just around the corner from the Alaska USA. After being told to remove his sunglasses and refusing to provide the teller with his account information, he left that bank, according to the complaint.

During both of the robberies, Fergerson was dressed in black clothing: a leather jacket and baseball hat with his hoodie pulled over his head. He also wore reflective sunglasses.

In the days after the robberies, an FBI agent investigating the crimes contacted an Anchorage police detective, who was well acquainted with Fergerson. The detective had "worked many robbery cases over the years where Fergerson was the suspect and she is familiar with his criminal history and has seen his picture many different times in relation to many different crimes," according to the complaint.

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U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason noted Fergerson's history of theft-related offenses, which she said was "demonstrative of an individual that had shown a lack of respect for the law," according to the attorney's office.

Gleason also said the sentence reflects the public's need to have confidence that when they visit a bank, there's a low likelihood of getting caught up in a robbery.

Jerzy Shedlock

Jerzy Shedlock is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2017.

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