Wyochem robber sentenced again

An Idaho man who robbed Wyochem Federal Credit Union was sentenced recently for the robbery.

Donald Sample, also known as Donald A. Sheriff, 60, of Pocatello, Idaho, was sentenced to serve 30 years in federal prison for bank robbery and use of a firearm.

He was ordered to pay $178,375 in restitution in addition to his sentence.

Sample was convicted after a jury trial June 30 in U.S. District Court and was sentenced Sept. 5. He was sentenced to 23 years for the bank robbery and seven years for use of a firearm during the crime. U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson ordered the two sentences be served consecutively.

Sample is considered an armed career criminal based on his conviction for 10 bank robberies between 1982 and 1989.

He was released from his 1989 prison sentence in 2008 and successfully completed his supervised release in 2011.

Sample robbed Wyochem FCU June 1, 2013, taking $175,300.

The robbery was the largest single loss in Wyoming history. The robbery was considered more sophisticated than usual bank robberies. Sample had surveilled the credit union prior to the robbery and had worn a fake beard and latex gloves to not leave fingerprints and DNA at the scene.

He also had an earbud connected to a police scanner, which allowed him to monitor police calls. He disabled the lock on the rear door at Wyochem, forcing the teller to a door where he was lying in wait.

When the teller arrived, Sample revealed his firearm and forced her inside the credit union. He made her deactivate the alarm and open the vault, which he then emptied.

He forced the teller on the floor and restrained her using flex ties to bind her hands behind her back. He then bound her feet together and left the credit union, being inside the building for less than 10 minutes.

According to a press release from the United States Attorney’s Office, the Afton Police Department, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, and the Wyoming Highway Patrol responded to the robbery and took Sample into custody 20 miles south of Afton.

Found in his vehicle were earbuds, latex gloves, a false beard, police scanner, an iPhone wrapped in tin foil, the bank robbery demand note and approximately $8,000 in cash from the bank.

A second robbery occurred Aug. 26, 2013, at First Interstate Bank in Afton, where Sample again used a false beard, latex gloves and a earbud.

Sample pled guilty to state charges of robbery and being a habitual criminal in March 2014, he was sentenced to serve between 20 and 35 years in prison.