Air traffic controller gets
4 years for bank robberies

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Staff and news reports

OAKLAND, Calif. >> The former Maui air traffic controller who turned to a life of crime to pay his debts and finance his children's visits was sentenced yesterday to more than four years in federal prison.

Rick Lee Davis, 44, known to police as the Robust Robber for his stocky build, was sentenced to 51 months in prison and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to six charges of unarmed bank robbery. He also was ordered to pay restitution to three banks of $36,696.

Wearing khakis and a dark blazer, and graying at the temples, Davis stood quietly, hands clasped in front of him, as U.S. District Judge Lowell Jensen rejected a defense attempt to reduce the sentence because of diminished capacity. He quickly glanced back at his sister sitting in the audience and let out a visible sigh.

Davis' attorney, Randy Sue Pollock, argued Davis had brain damage from a car accident six years ago and also suffered from depression.

"He was on a spiraling course downhill with a series of events he could not deal with, added to the damage in his brain," she said. "He didn't have the ability to control his behavior."

The judge said he was not convinced.

Davis' arrest on Aug. 3 shocked co-workers at San Francisco Airport, where he earned $98,000 a year as an air traffic controller. He had been working there since 1998 and was president of the air traffic controllers union local and known for having a cool head.

He was also cool during the robberies, and polite. In each robbery over a 10-month period beginning in October 2000, he produced a computer-generated note that read: "Please be very quiet. Empty both drawers. Place all money on counter. I don't want to hurt anyone."

He never carried a weapon and no one was hurt.

Davis apologized to the court, and said that at the time of the robberies, he had trouble thinking of how to solve his money and relationship problems and deal with separation from his two sons, who lived on Maui with their mother.

"It's hard to get out of those situations because of the pain," he said.

Davis worked as an air traffic controller in Kahului from 1988 until 1999, when he began working at San Francisco Airport. After his arrest in August, the former Makawao resident told the Star-Bulletin that he robbed the banks so that his sons would not know he was suffering financially.