Josue Daniel Alfaro, Bank Robbery, Idaho 2016

BOISE — Josue Daniel Alfaro, a/k/a Danny Alfaro, a/k/a the “Great Outdoors Bandit,” age 32, of Portland, Oregon, is headed to federal prison for robbing six banks across Idaho and Utah, brandishing threats and fleeing with $31,216 in stolen cash. Today, he was sentenced to 63 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for bank robbery and attempted bank robbery.

U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill imposed the sentence in Boise federal court, ordering Alfaro to pay full restitution of $31,216 to the six victim banks and to forfeit a total of $31,756 — $28,930 in unrecovered proceeds and $2,826 in recovered cash. Alfaro pleaded guilty on December 20, 2017, to Counts 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 of the indictment, admitting to a crime spree that spanned nearly eight months.

The heists began December 21, 2016, with back-to-back robberies: first at the U.S. Bank at 10500 West Overland Road in Boise, where he stole $3,174, then at the Idaho Central Credit Union at 1615 South Celebration Avenue in Meridian, where he took $2,100. One note demanded $40,000 in large bills. On March 24, 2017, he struck again at the Bank of the West at 9140 West Emerald Street in Boise, grabbing $3,469 after passing a note: “Give me money or I will shoot the teller next to you.”

On May 24, 2017, Alfaro robbed the Alpine Credit Union at 351 East 800 South in Orem, Utah, of $12,736. Then came the spree of August 7, 2017: he attempted to rob the Bank of the West at the same Boise location — no money lost — before hitting the Pioneer Federal Credit Union at 850 East Fairview Avenue in Meridian, Idaho, where he took $9,637 after threatening, “give me all of your hundred dollar bills, I have a gun.” Minutes later, he stole $100 from the Clarity Federal Credit Union at 555 South Meridian Road in Meridian.

For each robbery, Alfaro wore a baseball cap and black sunglasses to conceal his face. He passed handwritten notes to tellers, escalating the threats with each demand. Federal prosecutors emphasized the psychological toll on bank employees forced to comply under threat of violence, even if no shots were fired.

Alfaro’s crime spree ended on August 13, 2017, when FBI agents arrested him at Los Angeles International Airport as he attempted to board a flight to Brussels, Belgium. Inside his carry-on bag: $2,826 in cash traced to the robberies. The case was jointly investigated by the FBI’s Boise, Salt Lake City, and Los Angeles field offices, along with the Boise Police Department and Meridian Police Department.

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