Posted on: Saturday, October 27, 2001

Ex-Hawai'i resident guilty in robbery spree

Associated Press

OAKLAND, Calif.— An air traffic controller at San Francisco International Airport who had been struggling with a series of personal and financial problems pleaded guilty yesterday to a bank robbery spree.

Rick Lee Davis, 43, a former Hawai'i resident and the president of the air traffic controllers' union local, changed his original plea of not guilty. He pleaded guilty to six counts of bank robbery.

Davis, nicknamed the Robust Robber because of his stocky build, was arrested Aug. 3 after a series of nine bank robberies over 10 months in the Bay area.

Police say he made off with $40,000 before his capture. As part of the plea agreement, Davis will pay $39,895 in restitution.

Davis is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 15 and faces 120 years in prison. Three of the nine original bank robbery charges were to be dismissed, according to the U.S. attorney's office in San Francisco.

Davis had been working as an air traffic controller at SFO since 1998, earning $98,000 a year. In 1996, Davis was seriously hurt when his car hit a cow in Hawai'i, where he had been living with his wife and two sons. Davis later divorced and filed for bankruptcy.

Davis' father, Don Davis, traveled from his Southern California home to attend the hearing. He said he supports his son and laments the wrong turns he took to dig himself out of debt.

"I have no idea how this all came about other than greed, love of money," the elder Davis said.