Federal Jury Finds Octogenarian Guilty of Armed CU Branch Robbery

An 82-year-old man who held up a branch of the $170 million Pyramid Federal Credit Union in Tucson, Ariz., in January 2018 will be sentenced in May after a federal jury in Arizona found him guilty last week of armed robbery.

But at least one juror apparently saw or sensed something unsettling about Robert Francis Krebs, questioning why he was being prosecuted. The Octogenarian has spent most of his adult life behind bars and now faces up to 25 years for robbing a credit union branch with a BB gun.

“Why are we hearing this case/?” asked Juror 43. “This defendant needs help, mentally and physically.”

That question may have captured the attention of defense lawyers and prosecutors as there had been questions about Krebs’ competency to stand trial after he robbed the branch. The juror’s written question was one of three questions asked by other jurors during the trial, court records showed. Other jurors asked questions about the evidence and testimony.

A few weeks before the three-day jury trial began on March 2, Krebs’ federal defense lawyers said they planned to present an insanity defense because he was unable to appreciate the nature and quality of the wrongfulness of his acts as a result of having a severe mental disease or defect, according to court documents.

But prosecutors convinced U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer G. Zips in Tucson to “preclude insanity” for reasons that were outlined in a sealed document off limits for public inspection.

Questions about Krebs’ mental competence emerged a few months after he robbed the credit union branch.

On Jan. 12, 2018, Krebs walked into the Pyramid branch with a black BB handgun and stole more than $8,000. Police captured him the next day without incident. The octogenarian’s crime drew national headlines for weeks.

Krebs told FBI investigators he didn’t wear a disguise because he wanted to go back to prison where he “didn’t have to contend with what’s going on in the outside world with cell phones and everything else.” He also robbed the credit union because he needed cash, complaining that the $800 monthly Social Security check was not enough to live on.

In July, however, a federal public defender representing Krebs observed that his client seemed to have signs of dementia. In at least one instance, Krebs was not able to recognize his lawyer or communicate in any way.

Marisa Menchola, Ph.D., an assistant professor for the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology at the University of Arizona, examined Krebs and determined he was not competent to stand trial, and he was not “restorable to competence.” Krebs also claimed he was diagnosed with onset Alzheimer’s disease that was getting exponentially worse.

A second examination on Krebs was conducted by medical doctor Bradley Johnson, who also specializes in psychiatry and neurology. His evaluation report determined Krebs was competent to stand trial and that the accused robber was “more likely consistent with malingering,” or that he was possibly faking dementia, according to court documents.

Because both evaluation reports had deficiencies, it was ordered that Krebs be hospitalized at a federal medical center for four months to undergo medical examinations, evaluations and observations.

While hospitalized, Krebs was observed to have exhibited a much higher level of functioning than a person with dementia or severe cognitive impairment would ordinarily present. According to court documents, Krebs demonstrated strong recall and cognitive ability during interviews, and his MRI brain imaging and other lab work did not show any clear evidence of organic impairment.

His first crime occurred in 1966 when he was convicted of embezzlement at a Chicago bank where he worked as teller. After that, Krebs spent many years of his adult life in prison for committing other crimes such as grand larceny, theft, robbery and kidnapping in three states. He also served time in prison in Canada for extortion, court documents showed.

After he was released in June 1, 2017 on parole in Florida, where he had been serving a 75-year sentence for robbery and kidnapping, he violated his parole conditions in November 2017 and ended up in Tucson.

Krebs’ defense attorneys did not respond to CU Times‘ request for comment.