AMERICAN FALLS, Idaho — A bank robber who most recently lived in Gooding, Mountain Home, and Boise has been sentenced to 13 years in federal prison following a September 1, 2023 robbery of the Bank of Commerce in American Falls.
According to court records, 50-year-old Steven James Parker entered the bank with a gun drawn. Parker charged the first teller's station and pointed his weapon at the bank employees, ordering them to fill a grocery bag with money.
Both tellers working that day followed Parker's orders and gave him the money. When he left, Parker told the tellers that he would return. Police responded and took the security footage of the robbery and circulated the stills on social media asking the public for tips on the perpetrator.
A tip from the social media circulation of the images led to Parker being identified in the video. Officers went to Parker's house in Mountain Home where they recovered the gun used in the robbery and some of the money taken during the crime.
Parker was sentenced to 13 years and ordered to pay the bank restitution of $11,106 by Judge B. Lynn Winmill.
Parker has three prior convictions for bank robbery, including a 2002 federal conviction and two other state court bank robbery convictions. Parker had only been out on parole from state custody for 5 months ahead of the American Falls robbery.
