How Many Years Do You Get for Robbing a Bank?

Federal bank robbery carries a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison, and using a dangerous weapon raises the ceiling to 25 years. If someone dies during the robbery, the sentence can reach life imprisonment or the death penalty. How many years you get for robbing a bank in practice sits well below those ceilings for most defendants: the average federal robbery sentence was about 110 months, just over nine years, in fiscal year 2024.¹ The actual number depends on whether a weapon was involved, whether anyone was hurt, the defendant’s record, and a mandatory add-on sentence that applies whenever a firearm shows up.

The Three Statutory Tiers

Bank robbery is a federal crime because most banks are federally insured. The statute, 18 U.S.C. 2113, sets three tiers of punishment.

The baseline covers anyone who takes or attempts to take money from a bank by force, intimidation, or extortion, or who enters a bank intending to commit a felony inside. The maximum is 20 years, and an attempt carries the same ceiling as a completed robbery.²

The middle tier applies when the robber assaults someone or endangers a life using a dangerous weapon. The maximum climbs to 25 years.²

The top tier kicks in if the robber kills anyone or forces someone to come along as a hostage. The minimum jumps to 10 years, and if a death results, the sentence can be life imprisonment or the death penalty. The death penalty provision is narrow. It applies only when someone actually dies during the robbery or its aftermath, not simply because a weapon was present.²p>

How Judges Land on an Actual Number

The statutory maximums set the ceiling. The sentence a defendant actually receives comes out of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Judges start with a base offense level, add or subtract levels for what happened, then look up the final level and the defendant’s criminal history on a table that spits out a range in months. The range is advisory. Most federal judges sentence inside it or close to it.

The Starting Point

The base offense level for robbery is 20. Because the target is a financial institution, the guidelines add 2 more levels automatically, so the starting point is 22.³ For a first-time offender at level 22 with no other enhancements, the guidelines produce a range of roughly 41 to 51 months. That is the practical floor for a straightforward, non-violent bank robbery where no gun appears and no one is hurt.⁴

Weapons Add Levels Fast

Weapons drive the biggest guideline increases:

Firearm discharged: +7 levels
Firearm otherwise used: +6 levels
Firearm brandished or possessed: +5 levels
Other dangerous weapon used: +4 levels
Other dangerous weapon brandished or possessed: +3 levels
Threat of death made: +2 levels

A bank robber who brandishes a firearm starts at offense level 27 (base 20, plus 2 for a financial institution, plus 5 for a firearm). For a first-time offender, that maps to a guidelines range near 70 to 87 months. If the firearm was actually fired, the level climbs to 29 or higher, where the range starts exceeding eight years even for someone with no record.⁴

Amount Stolen

The amount taken also raises the offense level, starting with +1 for losses above $20,000 and climbing to +5 for losses above $3,000,000.³ Most bank robberies net modest amounts, so this rarely moves the needle much. A well-planned job that clears six figures can add two or three levels, which translates to an extra year or two.

Criminal History

The guidelines assign every defendant to one of six criminal history categories based on prior convictions, their seriousness, and how recent they were. Category I means zero or one criminal history point. Category VI means 13 or more. The same offense level produces very different ranges depending on category. At level 22, a Category I defendant faces roughly 41 to 51 months; a Category VI defendant faces 84 to 105 months.⁴

Pleading Guilty and Cooperating

Defendants who plead guilty and accept responsibility typically get a 2- or 3-level reduction, which can take a year or more off the sentence. Cooperating with prosecutors against co-defendants can produce even larger reductions, sometimes below the otherwise-applicable range. Most federal bank robbery cases end in guilty pleas, and this is a big reason why.

The Mandatory Add-On for Firearms

For armed bank robbery, the single largest driver of the sentence is often not the robbery statute at all. It is 18 U.S.C. 924(c), which imposes a separate mandatory minimum on anyone who uses, carries, or possesses a firearm during a crime of violence:

Carried or possessed a firearm: 5-year mandatory minimum
Brandished a firearm: 7-year mandatory minimum
Discharged a firearm: 10-year mandatory minimum

The 924(c) sentence runs consecutively. It is stacked on top of whatever the judge imposes for the robbery itself.⁵ A defendant who receives eight years for the robbery and brandished a handgun will serve at least 15 years total. No judge can order these to run at the same time.

How Much of the Sentence Is Actually Served

Federal parole was abolished for offenses committed after November 1, 1987. The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 replaced it with determinate sentencing: the judge imposes a fixed term and the defendant serves most of it.⁶

The main reduction is good time credit. Inmates serving more than a year can earn up to 54 days per year of the sentence by maintaining exemplary behavior, and the Bureau of Prisons also considers whether the inmate has earned or is working toward a GED or high school diploma.⁷ As a rough rule, a well-behaved inmate serves about 85% of the imposed sentence.

The First Step Act of 2018 added another way to earn credits, through participation in recidivism-reduction programs. Eligible inmates earn 10 days of credit for every 30 days of successful programming, and those assessed as minimum or low risk can earn an additional 5 days per 30-day period. Inmates convicted of certain violent offenses listed in 18 U.S.C. 3632(d)(4)(D) are excluded. Whether a particular bank robbery conviction falls on the exclusion list depends on the specific subsection of 18 U.S.C. 2113 under which the defendant was convicted.⁸

Release from prison is not the end of federal oversight. A basic bank robbery conviction is a Class C felony and carries up to three years of supervised release. An aggravated bank robbery involving a dangerous weapon is a Class B felony and carries up to five years. Violating conditions can send a defendant back to prison for up to two years (Class C) or up to three years (Class B).⁹

Fines and Restitution

Prison is not the only cost. Federal law allows fines up to $250,000 for an individual convicted of a felony.¹⁰

Restitution is separate and goes to victims rather than the government. Under the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act of 1996, courts must order the defendant to repay financial losses, including stolen funds and property damage.¹¹ The obligation survives imprisonment. The U.S. Attorney’s Financial Litigation Unit can pursue collection for up to 20 years from the date of judgment, plus any time the defendant spent incarcerated.¹²

When the Case Is Prosecuted in State Court Instead

Not every bank robbery is prosecuted federally. The FBI focuses federal resources on the most violent and prolific offenders.¹³ When federal authorities decline, local police and state prosecutors handle the case as armed robbery or a similar state offense. State penalties vary widely, with armed robbery often carrying potential sentences ranging from several years to life imprisonment depending on the jurisdiction.

Under the dual sovereignty doctrine, a defendant can legally be prosecuted in both state and federal court for the same bank robbery without violating double jeopardy, though in practice dual prosecution is uncommon for routine cases.¹⁴

1
United States Sentencing Commission. QuickFacts – Robbery Offenses
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2113 – Bank Robbery and Incidental Crimes
3
United States Sentencing Commission. USSG 2B3.1 – Robbery (2025 Manual)
4
U.S. Sentencing Commission. Sentencing Table
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 924 – Penalties
6
eCFR. 28 CFR Part 2 – Parole, Release, Supervision and Recommitment of Prisoners, Youth Offenders, and Juvenile Delinquents
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3624 – Release of a Prisoner
8
eCFR. 28 CFR Part 523 Subpart E – First Step Act Time Credits
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 3583 – Inclusion of a Term of Supervised Release After Imprisonment
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3571 – Sentence of Fine
11
United States Courts. The Imposition of Restitution in Federal Criminal Cases
12
Department of Justice. The Restitution Process for Victims of Federal Crimes
13
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Bank Robbery
14
Legal Information Institute. Dual Sovereignty Doctrine