The “FedEx Bank Bandit” ” so dubbed by the FBI for the use of large Federal Express envelopes to cart away bank loot ” pleaded guilty Wednesday, May 17, to robbing banks in Point Loma, Pacific Beach and elsewhere in a spree that ended after he accidentally left his cell phone on a bank counter.
Ernest Lozano, 40, pleaded guilty to 32 bank robberies committed in San Diego County between April 2004 and August 2005. Deputy District Attorney George Bennett said he hasn’t yet calculated the total loss, but noted “it’s a huge amount.” An initial estimate of $300,000 was given to the media when he was arrested.
Sentencing was set for August 11 by San Diego Superior Court Judge David Danielsen. Bennett said Lozano faces a maximum 36-year prison term. He remains in county jail with bail set at $5 million.
Lozano is from Iran and originally came to the United Sates on a student visa 25 years ago. His birth name is Farzad Farhbaksh, but he changed it to Ernest Lozano after the World Trade Center attack on September 11, 2001.
The motive for the bank robberies stemmed from his addiction to opium and heroin, said his attorney Greg Maizlish.
Maizlish said Lozano never displayed a weapon to tellers and all of the hold-ups were “non-violent.” Some tellers, however, said they saw a gun in his waistband.
“Mr. Lozano is simply not a violent person. A foolish one, perhaps, but not your typical gun-toting bank robber,” Maizlish said.
In court documents, Maizlish wrote that Lozano’s first bank robbery occurred while his car was being smog tested across the street from a bank located in another county in 2003. Lozano still faces bank robbery charges in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
Among the banks he robbed in San Diego were branches on Midway Drive and Rosecrans Street, at least one in Pacific Beach, nine on Balboa Avenue, one in Bay Park, several in Mission Valley and two in Del Mar. He used taxicabs to flee the area.
The cell phone Lozano left behind led to his identity. Lozano had sold his car to a man whose number was on the cell phone and the man told police that Lozano said he had three parking tickets recently. Police pulled their records and found his photo and a driver’s license. A warrant was issued for his arrest.
Lozano realized he left his cell phone in one bank and canceled his service. He continued to rob more banks, but went into Mexico. He was arrested Sept. 26, 2005, after trying to cross the border into the U.S. with a phony identification card.