Bank robber sentenced to four years in federal prison

OAKLAND >> A man who pleaded guilty to robbing a Fremont bank in Hayward was sentenced Thursday to four years in federal prison, prosecutors said.

Brandon Ho, 47, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to four years in federal prison and four years of supervised release. He isn’t required to pay restitution because authorities recovered the money.

Authorities say that in the August 2020 robbery, Ho — wearing a black wig in an apparent attempt to disguise himself as a woman — brandished a firearm at the clerk and displayed a note in the August 2020 robbery. The note read “Stay calm! And no one gets hurt. THIS IS A ROBBERY!!! I have a gun in my black bag.”

In turn, the teller handed over bait bills — cash with prerecorded serial numbers that are easy to trace — and Ho left on a bicycle. A short time later, Hayward police cut off Ho’s bicycle, forcing him to crash, and recovered the gun, wig and roughly $6,800 in cash, authorities said.

“Quite literally, the employee was warned that someone could be hurt, presumptively shot with a firearm, if the employee did not remain calm,” assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Green wrote in a sentencing memo asking for 51 months. “(Ho) then showed defendant the bank employee the gun he warned he had, pointing it in the direction of the bank employee with his finger on the trigger.”

In court filings, Ho’s attorney described his client as “an excellent person that made a catastrophic mistake but deserves a second chance.” The defense sentencing memo includes letters from family members who wrote they were in “utter

disbelief” and “shocked” by the robbery that was “so out of character” for Ho.

“He is compassionate, successful, thoughtful and a fun-loving person. He has always been there for me and the family,” one of

Ho’s siblings wrote in court records.

Ho had no prior arrests, according to the defense memo.