Serial bank robber gets 11 years - News - MailTribune.com - Medford, OR

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Serial bank robber gets 11 years Thursday Mar 16, 2017 at 6:21 PM Mar 16, 2017 at 6:25 PM Nick Morgan Mail Tribune @mtcrimebeat A career criminal was handed his third federal prison sentence, this time for 2014 robberies of a Medford convenience store and bank. Gerald Thomas Schram, 65, was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Medford to 130 months in prison after having previously been found guilty of robbing a Minute Market and admitting to robbing a U.S. Bank branch. On Nov. 9, Schram pleaded guilty to robbing the U.S. Bank in the 1200 block of Court Street on Sept. 29, 2014, admitting he'd fled the bank on a mountain bike with $8,572 after making statements such as "this is a robbery" and "don't make me get my gun out." Police later tracked Schram down at his girlfriend's house in the 300 block of Haven Street, along with the bulk of the stolen cash. In September, a federal jury found Schram guilty of robbing a west Medford Minute Market on Jan. 20, 2014, in which $605 was taken.  During the two-day trial, U.S. attorneys matched Schram's DNA to a cigarette butt found outside the store, and used testimony from Schram's niece to identify his voice recorded on store surveillance. From 1970 to 2014, Schram has seven prior felony convictions in California and Oregon, according to a release issued by the U.S. Department of Justice. Schram has served two federal prison sentences for bank robbery and robbery, which were 14-year and 3-year sentences. Jackson County Circuit Court records show a number of prior local felony convictions, including a December 2014 attempt to escape from his jail cell by breaking a window. An off-duty corrections deputy heard the crash outside, immediately alerted jail staff, who put the jail on lockdown. — Reach reporter Nick Morgan at 541-776-4471 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @MTCrimeBeat.