Bank Robbin' Mama's Goin' To Jail

The Poway mother of 5 sentenced to almost 4 years.

What would drive a Poway mother to rob four banks? Desperation, according to the suspect's attorney. 

Roxanne Pennock was sentenced Tuesday to three years and eight months in state prison.  

The 37-year old mother of five pleaded guilty Dec. 17 to robbing two banks in Temecula.  That's when she was sentenced to two years in prison. She was released on $25,000 bail and ordered to surrender to authorities in January. 

But on Dec. 30,  Pennock was arrested near her Poway home in connection with two more bank robberies: San Diego National Bank on Poway Road, and a U.S. Bank branch on Scripps Poway Parkway . She pleaded guilty to robbing those two banks as well.  

Defense attorney Beth Ulch told Judge Kathleen Lewis that Pennock was desperate over her family's financial problems, panicked and was extremely remorseful for her behavior. 

Pennock's mother, Carrie Chavez, said her daughter made a "grave mistake" by committing the robberies but was not a bad person. 

Chavez said her daughter must have "snapped" from financial pressures, adding she needs help, not jail time.  

But Deputy District Attorney Allison Worden said Pennock used a BB gun bought at Wal-Mart to rob two people at the San Diego National Bank branch last September.  

"They didn't know that it wasn't a real gun," Worden said.

Pennock has no prior criminal history. She was arrested on Nov. 6 after Temecula police spotted a red minivan traveling southbound on Interstate 15. The van matched the description of a vehicle used in the robbery of a Chase Bank on Temecula Parkway.

Contact Us