Dec 24, 2007 12:04 pm US/Pacific
'Newlywed Bandits' Plead Not Guilty In Robberies
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
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The so-called "Newlywed Bandits" are believed to have robbed five banks throughout the San Gabriel Valley. (File)
Courtesy of FBI
The alleged "Newlywed Bandits," believed to be responsible for five Los Angeles-area bank robberies in a three-week span, pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of bank robbery and conspiracy.
Rayceana Racheal Rocha, 22, and Paul Harlen Meyercamp Jr., 26, entered their pleas before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Block. At one point, like a couple in love, Rocha and Meyercamp whispered to each other, looked into each other's eyes and smiled.
The unmarried couple, christened "the Newlywed Bandits" by an FBI agent who watched them on surveillance tapes, were arrested last month when they allegedly robbed a pedestrian and carjacked a vehicle in Las Vegas, then led police on a pursuit.
Rocha, who was driving, crashed the vehicle and was taken into custody. Meyercamp was caught following a brief foot pursuit, the FBI said.
Between Oct. 18 and Nov. 8, they allegedly robbed a Wells Fargo branch in La Habra, East West Bank branches in El Monte and Diamond Bar, a Bank of America in Duarte and a Downey Savings in Claremont.
Rocha is a student at Rio Hondo Community College in Whittier and Meyercamp is on parole, according to the FBI.
Their trial is scheduled for Feb. 5 in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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