Serial South Miami Bank Robber Unmasked: Defendant Convicted of Two Armed Bank Robberies

MIAMI - On August 5, a federal jury found Luis Ramirez Gonzalez, 37, of Miami, guilty of two counts of armed bank robbery.

The evidence during the six-day trial revealed that Ramirez Gonzalez committed two armed bank robberies within ten days - one at Interamerican Bank's Kendall branch on Nov. 29, 2023 and a second at a Palmetto Bay TD Bank on Dec. 9, 2023.

According to the evidence admitted at trial, Ramirez Gonzalez entered Interamerican Bank wearing an Amazon vest and a Halloween-style mask, with an aged face, on Nov. 29, 2023. He marched straight to the nearest teller, pointing a gun at the teller and taking cash from the teller's drawer before turning his attention to access the bank's vault. When bank employees told him they could not access it, he moved to the next teller drawer and took the cash from there before leaving in a vehicle.

The evidence admitted at trial further showed Ramirez Gonzalez's face on surveillance footage in the early hours of Dec. 9, 2023, peering through the glass door of the TD Bank. Just a few hours later, Ramirez Gonzalez returned to the same TD Bank, but this time wore a porcelain doll Halloween-style mask with the word "God" written on the forehead. He then drew a dark gun from a black bag and pointed it at the nearest teller's pregnant midsection before taking the cash from the first teller drawer. When he wanted to access the vault, bank employees told him they were unable to provide him access and he again proceeded to the second teller drawer, emptying it of cash before departing the bank.

The evidence admitted at trial revealed that the Ramirez Gonzalez had also stolen two stacks of cash containing GPS trackers from the teller drawers, which law enforcement followed before he led them on a brief high-speed chase through a residential neighborhood ending with Ramirez Gonzalez crashing the car. He then bailed from the wreckage and fled on foot through residential backyards for almost two hours before being arrested by law enforcement. From the canal that lined the backyards and approximately where a homeowner saw an individual jumping into the canal following the crash, law enforcement recovered a black bag containing the "God" mask, the dark gun, and the exact amount of stolen cash-including the GPS trackers-all used during the TD Bank robbery.

The dark gun recovered from the canal was revealed to be a BB gun that Ramirez Gonzalez had purchased as a rush order two days prior to the TD Bank robbery, according to the evidence admitted at trial.

U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom is scheduled to sentence Ramirez Gonzalez on Oct. 25. He is facing a total statutory maximum penalty of 25 years' imprisonment as to each count of armed bank robbery. Judge Bloom will determine Ramirez Garcia's sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI, Miami Field Office, announced the convictions.

FBI investigated this case with substantial assistance from the Miami-Dade Police Department. Coral Gables Police Department's Underwater Recovery Unit also assisted in this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexandra D. Comolli and Sterling M. Paulson are prosecuting the case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 23-cr- 20490.

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