Quad Bandit gets 10 years in prison for 6 bank robberies, including 1 in La Habra

SANTA ANA — A 49-year-old man dubbed the Quad Bandit was sentenced today to 10 years in federal prison for robbing banks throughout Orange County, including one in La Habra.

Jonathan Wade Oechsle pleaded guilty in February of last year to six heists. Charges related to four attempted bank robberies were dropped by prosecutors today as part of the defendant’s plea agreement.

Prosecutors had sought a 151-month prison term, but U.S. District Judge James Selna agreed to shave a few years off the punishment because Oechsle has shown signs of rehabilitation while in custody.

Oechsle was previously convicted of bank robbery in 1992 and had his supervised released revoked a decade later, according to court records.

Defense attoey Cori Ferrentino told Selna that her client took advantage of psychiatric help while in custody.

“I think there’s really hope,” she said of Oechsle.

Not only has Oechsle helped himself, but he has taken to helping other inmates while in custody, she said.

“Drugs have obviously been a main theme throughout his entire life,” she said. “(But) I’m very proud of Mr. Oechsle and of how he’s used his time in (jail).”

Oechsle “opened up” to a psychologist and had to “recount horrific child abuse,” the attoey said. Outside the courtroom, Ferrentino said the defendant suffered “severe abuse while (growing up) in foster care” homes.

Oechsle told Selna, “I’m sorry for taking up the court’s time for my bad conduct on the street.”

Of his past, the defendant said, “You know my past, your honor. I carry a lot of baggage.”

Explaining his drug addictions, Oechsle said, “Every day I’d wake up and think I don’t like what I see in the mirror, so I tried to medicate myself.”

The defendant said that while in custody, he has found self-worth by helping counsel other inmates with “psychological issues.”

He added, “I’ve finally found something I like,” and said he hopes his first time in a comprehensive drug-and-alcohol and psychiatric program helps him rehabilitate.

“I hope I can find a way to not defeat or destroy myself,” Oechsle said.

Selna said it was “clear” to him that Oechsle had begun tuing things around while in jail and that it was “significant” that he was helping others.

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Selna ordered Oechsle to pay $18,215 in restitution to the banks he robbed. The judge recommended Oechsle do his time in a New England or New York penitentiary at the defendant’s request.

Oechsle, who was bo in Canada, was raised on the East Coast and wanted to be behind bars near Newfoundland.

Oechsle was arrested in August 2014 following a police chase that ended with the defendant crashing his vehicle into a curb in the 1600 block of Skyline Drive in Fullerton.

Oechsle admitted robbing the following banks:

-- Chase bank branch at 8901 Valley View St., Buena Park, on March 22, 2014;

-- Chase branch at 13223 E. South St., Cerritos, on June 16, 2014;

-- U.S. Bank, 1800 W. Whittier Blvd., La Habra, on July 3, 2014;

-- Opus Bank, 2310 E. Lincoln Ave., Anaheim, on July 15, 2014;

-- Union Bank, 701 S. Weir Canyon Road, Anaheim, on July 23, 2014; and

-- Bank of the West, 311 S. State College Blvd., Brea, on Aug. 7, 2014.

“Shortly after this (Brea) bank robbery, defendant led officers in a high-speed car chase, ruing through stop signs, driving at speeds of 80 to 90 miles per hour on residential surface streets with speed limits as low as 25 miles per hour,” federal prosecutors wrote in court papers.

“Defendant sped at 80 to 90 miles per hour past several children walking on the sidewalk and riding bicycles on the street, and ultimately crashed into a curb, where he was apprehended.”

Oechsle got his moniker for attempting to rob four banks on the same day, according to the U.S. Attoey’s Office.

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