Local Bay Area Actor Sentenced to 105 Years
A local stage actor is being called a real life Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. A San Jose judge has sentenced John Alexander to a century behind bars for more than a dozen bank robberies committed in the Bay Area, three in and around San Jose. The San Francisco examiner reports that there are seven more robbery charges pending in San Mateo and Placer Counties.
Alexander's sentencing judge seems to have given him the maximum under the Three Strikes Law, despite some mitigating factors. The Mercury has reported that some of the robberies were or may have been committed while Alexander was in a drug induced state and other than one robbery from 1979, there were no allegations that he was armed. Family and friends came to the sentencing hearing and testified to Alexander humble and loving side. His 27 year old son testified that his father's conduct was born out of financial. However, as the Examiner reports, Alexander had a dark side, full of rage and insensitivity to others.Although, never armed, Alexander would rob local banks by handing a note to the teller, sometimes threatening the use of a weapon. In the South Bay robberies it is estimated that Alexander netted around $7,287. That includes banks in San Jose, Los Gatos and Moutain View.
The judge did recommend that Alexander be eligible to serve his time at the California Department of Corrections Conservation Camp. This is a minimum security facility where inmates are used as temporary firefighters during fire emergencies. However, being made eligible does not mean he will be accepted into the program. The Department of Corrections must approve and accept Alexander based on its own standards. Alexander will have to be deemed physically and mentally fit and further deemed never to have a committed a violent crime as defined by the California Penal Code.
