Former Bank Employee Pleads Guilty to Bank Robbery

ALBUQUERQUE – Jennifer Marissa Miera, a 23-year-old resident of Questa, New Mexico, pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Albuquerque to a federal bank robbery charge.

Miera and her co-defendants, Troy Montoya, 24, of Espanola, New Mexico, and Shawn Michael Goodrum, Jr., 20, of Pima, Arizona, were arrested in October 2016 on a criminal complaint charging them with offenses arising out of the robbery of the People’s Bank located at 121 East Main Street in Red River, New Mexico, on October 6, 2016.

According to the complaint, Miera conspired with Montoya to rob the bank by planning the robbery and purchasing items used to carry out the robbery, including gloves and medical masks, on October 5, 2016. It further alleged that Miera and Montoya robbed the bank on October 6, 2016. At the time, Miera was employed as a personal banker by the bank. The complaint alleged that Miera had attempted unsuccessfully to solicit Goodrum’s participation in the bank robbery conspiracy. Instead, Goodrum allegedly blackmailed Miera into giving him part of the proceeds from the robbery by threatening to report her role in the robbery to the police.

Miera, Montoya and Goodrum were indicted on November 1, 2016. The three-count indictment charged Miera and Montoya with conspiracy to rob the bank and with bank robbery, and Goodrum with receiving proceeds from the bank robbery. According to the indictment, the defendants committed the crimes in Taos County, New Mexico.

During yesterday’s proceedings, Miera pleaded guilty to Counts 1 and 2 of the indictment charging her with conspiracy and bank robbery without the benefit of a plea agreement. At sentencing, Miera faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.

Montoya and Goodrum have entered pleas of not guilty to the charges in the indictment and are pending trial, which currently is scheduled for April 7, 2017 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Charges in criminal complaints and indictment are merely accusations. Criminal defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the FBI and the Taos County Sheriff’s Office, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul H. Spiers.

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