Jesus Ventura
A former Dallas firefighter who robbed a Dallas bank last spring was sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison on Wednesday morning.
Jesus Ventura, 37, collapsed in court as a federal judge issued the ruling. He appeared to be conscious but his body shook as he lay on his side on the floor of the courtroom.
Ventura?s former colleagues with Dallas Fire-Rescue arrived to treat him and took him away in an ambulance. His condition was not known.
Ventura pleaded guilty in the April robbery at a Chase bank on Sylvan Avenue in September and faced up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Dallas police arrested Ventura at his Irving home after a brief crime spree in which he also allegedly tried to rob a Valero gas station not far from the bank. At the time, Ventura was on administrative leave after authorities said he fired a gun inside a fire station in March.
Ventura collapsed around 11:30 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade could finish formally pronouncing the sentence. His arm appeared to hit a table as he fell. Court bailiffs rushed to him and turned him onto his side while an ambulance was called.
Minutes before, his lawyer, Douglas A. Morris, told Kinkeade it was very unusual for someone like Ventura to be charged with bank robbery. Morris said Ventura grew up in a nice home and earned a college degree in business administration. He said Ventura didn?t need to steal because he owned a home and car and had enough money.
Morris said Ventura had no addictions and didn?t gamble but rather suffers from mental illness, specifically bi-polar disorder.
Morris asked Kinkeade to sentence his client to time he had already served behind bars or to home confinement so that his family could get him the treatment he needs. He said prison time would not help his client.
Kinkeade said he understood that Ventura was mentally ill but said he still must be responsible for his actions.
?He?s a bank robber,? he said. ?Ultimately, those are his decisions. And he?s made some bad ones.?
Kinkeade said he was struggling with how to protect society from the ?scary things? Ventura has done.
?He?s dangerous. I get what the government is saying,? Kinkeade said.
Ventura?s three brothers attended the sentencing hearing.
Augustine Ventura, an older brother, spoke about his brother and their family, saying their parents both came to the U.S. legally with very little education and worked hard. Their father worked as a machinist to put all of them through college, he said.
Kinkeade listened and then interjected with: ?It?s pretty scary the things he?s accused of.?
Augustine Ventura said the family thought the anxiety that Jesus was feeling was related to his profession as a firefighter and paramedic. He said his brother tried to leave the fire department but was persuaded to remain. When his condition then worsened, Jesus started taking sleeping pills, he said.
?I don?t recognize him now,? he said. ?It?s hard for me to look at him now and say, ?That?s my brother.??
Jesus Ventura spent much of the hearing leaning forward in his seat with his head down.
When it came time to address the court, he read from a piece of paper, saying he was ?truly remorseful? for his actions. He asked his family, his victims and the Dallas Fire-Rescue Department to forgive him.
He attempted to explain his condition, saying it ?came unannounced? and that he still doesn?t have a ?complete grasp of it.?
?I have a ways to go,? he told Kinkeade. ?I hope to regain my usefulness.?
His voice faltered with emotion as he spoke about hoping to be available to his elderly parents.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Keith Robinson told the judge it was ?alarming? that Ventura had already begun psychiatric treatment several months before the gun incident at the fire station in March 2012. Robinson said Ventura wouldn?t take his medication, noting ?You?ve seen this pattern a lot.?
Ventura also faces a misdemeanor charge of deadly conduct in state court for the gun incident as well as a felony robbery charge for the alleged gas station hold-up.
During the bank robbery, Ventura asked to use the restroom. A bank employee gave him the code to use the restroom and told him where it was. When he returned, a bank teller asked if she could help him.
?I am sorry to do this to you,? he replied. ?I really am. Give me all the money.?
After she slid a bundle of $20 bills to the firefighter, he slid one back to her and said, ?Here is a tip for you.?
Later, trying to explain his actions in court, Ventura said that he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety. He said he hadn?t been taking his medications because they?d been taken in a car burglary.
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