Bank robbery suspect was out on bail

A man arrested on suspicion of robbing a Carlsbad bank on Dec. 21 was at the time out on bail and awaiting sentencing in a federal case, police said.

The 24-year-old San Marcos resident was arrested Friday near his home, Carlsbad police said in a news release.

The bank robbery happened just after 2:40 p.m. at a U.S. Bank on Carlsbad Village Drive, a few blocks west of Interstate 5.

The suspect demanded money from a teller and walked off with an undisclosed amount cash, police said. Officers were unable to find him in the area.

Police did not say what led them to suspect the San Marcos man in the robbery. In announcing his arrest, the department noted that he was awaiting sentencing in a federal case involving bank fraud and making false statements.

According to the plea agreement in the federal case, the defendant was accused of depositing fraudulent checks worth more than $85,000 into his bank account in March.

The defendant was also accused of emailing the Russian Embassy in August 2021, indicating he was a U.S. Treasury employee and offering to share information on U.S. sanctions against Russia.

About nine months later, in May, he met with an undercover agent posing as a member of the Russian government and said he was willing to provide classified information, according to his plea agreement.

And about five months ago in August, in an interview with FBI agents, he lied about working for the Treasury, having secret clearance and being a vice president of a financial firm, according to court records.

He pleaded guilty in September and was set to be sentenced Monday. With this new arrest, his sentencing hearing has been pushed back to April.