Albuquerque, NM (KKOB) – A Las Cruces man was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison for robbing a Pioneer Bank branch in August 2025 and fleeing with more than $3,500.
According to court records, on August 4, 2025, 32-year old Jacob Ezekiel Martinez, entered the Pioneer Bank in Las Cruces wearing dark clothing and a mask partially covering his face and approached a teller handing her a note threatening violence if his demands weren’t followed he took off from the bank with $3,513 in cash.
Las Cruces Police Department investigators identified Martinez from bank surveillance footage and the following morning, they found Martinez in the back seat of a vehicle parked outside a Las Cruces residence and arrested him.
Another Las Cruces man pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 63 months in federal prison for trying to rob a local bank armed with a hatchet.
On February 26, this year, 42-year old Zachary Michael Clay, entered the First New Mexico Bank in Deming, New Mexico, with a hatchet around his waist and handed a teller a handwritten note demanding large bills. The teller told Clay to wait and walked away under the pretense of retrieving money and then another employee called 911. Luna County Sheriff’s Office deputies immediately arrested him as he exited the bank.
Clay pleaded guilty to attempted bank robbery. Upon his release from prison, he will be subject to three years of supervised release.
