Yolanda Brown, 48, of San Francisco—better known on the street as ‘Yo-Yo’—pleaded guilty yesterday to a five-robbery spree that terrorized Bay Area banks and credit unions over a six-month stretch in 2016. The plea, entered in federal court, lands Brown squarely in the crosshairs of a potential life sentence, as she admitted not only to armed thefts but also to dealing methamphetamine and illegally wielding a firearm.
The string of daylight heists began January 11, 2016, at the Wells Fargo on 2055 Chestnut Street in San Francisco. Just two days later, she hit the Patelco Credit Union in San Leandro at 1358 Fairmont Drive—a location she’d return to on February 19 of the same year. The pattern of bold, brazen robberies continued with a June 9 raid on Citibank at 2400 19th Avenue in San Francisco, capped off by a final stickup at the Wells Fargo on 3365 Deer Valley Road in Antioch, CA, on June 16, 2016.
Brown didn’t limit her crimes to theft. In the same plea agreement, she admitted to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm—a direct violation of federal law. She also confessed to distributing and possessing with intent to distribute more than fifty grams of actual methamphetamine, a charge stemming from a separate September 15, 2015, indictment under 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1).
Federal prosecutors moved swiftly. On October 20, 2016, a grand jury hit Brown with five counts of bank or credit union robbery under 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a), and one count of being a felon with a firearm under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Under her plea deal, Brown admitted guilt on all charges from both indictments, erasing any chance of a trial.
The stakes at sentencing couldn’t be higher. Each bank robbery count carries a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The firearm charge adds another 10 years and the same fine. But the meth conviction is the hammer: life in prison, a mandatory minimum of ten years, and a $10 million fine. Judge Thelton E. Henderson will weigh these penalties when he sentences Brown on February 27, 2017, at 2:30 PM in San Francisco, guided by the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
The case was led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott D. Joiner, with support from Lance Libatique, Christine Tian, and Linda Love. The investigation was a multi-agency grind involving the FBI, ATF, San Francisco Police Department, San Leandro Police, and Antioch Police—agencies that methodically pieced together surveillance, witness accounts, and forensic evidence to bring ‘Yo-Yo’ to justice.
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Key Facts
- State: California
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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