A Mission Viejo man who robbed a Rancho Bernardo post office at gunpoint was sentenced Friday to 14 years in federal prison.
Scott Howard Kimball, 50, was convicted a year ago for the Jan. 21, 2015, crime.
“Today’s sentence should send a clear message. The Postal Inspection Service will not tolerate attacks on our facilities,” said Los Angeles Postal Inspector in Charge Robert Wemyss.
“A large part of the Postal Inspection Service mission is assuring the safety of postal employees and we want them to have confidence that they can focus on their duties,” he said. “These types of crimes are rare, but when they do occur, they become top priority for us.”
Kimball was well-disguised in a baggy hooded sweatshirt, shorts, long socks, gloves and black face paint as he entered the Rancho Bernardo Post Office on Bernardo Center Drive.
He brandished what appeared to be a semiautomatic handgun, pointing it at about a dozen customers and Postal Service employees and demanding money from three employees working at the registers.
After obtaining a sum of cash, Kimball fled the post office with an accomplice acting as a getaway driver.
Postal inspectors identified Kimball as the robber after tracking down the getaway vehicle, a rented Ford Explorer, a few weeks later.
–City News Service