Indian-American nurse Sandeep Kaur’s short alternative career as a bank robber ended with a bang on Tuesday, when a US court sentenced her to 66 months in prison and tens of thousands of dollars in fines. Kaur had been designated the Bombshell Bandit by the Federal Bureau of Investigation last July in recognition of her brazen modus operandi: wearing a glamorous disguise that included a wig and sunglasses, 24-year-old Kaur would slip the teller a note threatening to detonate a bomb unless she was given all the cash at the counter.
Kaur robbed four banks in California, Arizona and Utah over two months last year before finally being caught after a high-speed chase in July. During her trial, her attorney asked the court in the Utah town of St George to reduce her sentence, claiming that the young woman, who grew up in California, had been “’trapped’ by her Sikh culture as she grew up, by family difficulties and by ‘bullies’ in her society”, according to the local newspaper, The Spectrum.
"She is educated, she has great worth to society… and she does want to make amends," defence attorney Jay Winward told the court.
The Spectrum reported that Kaur had robbed the banks in order to repay her debts to a "loan shark". The judge who handed Kaur her sentence told the newspaper, "She amassed a large gambling debt and, in order to repay a loan shark, she robbed the banks. That conduct explains why she did what she did, but by no means justifies what she did. … It cannot be used as an excuse in the court's mind."
Kaur’s story would seem to be far removed from the staple tales of desi spelling bee champions and NASA scientists that dominate the Indian-American press. After qualifying as a nurse in California, she had a spell of success in the stock market. She attempted to make a break with her past by moving to Las Vegas, but soon developed a gambling addiction, her lawyer told the court. Kaur returned to an arranged marriage, which led to her “physical and emotional deterioration”, The Spectrum quoted her lawyer as saying.
However, her family painted a completely different picture in an interview to the Indian-American publication India Abroad. A little while after Kaur had been detained in a high-speed chase that involved the police shooting out the tyres of her car, a family member told the publication that the young woman had only recently been accepted for a master’s in health care at the California State University in Long Beach.
“There is someone else behind all this,” the relative told India Abroad. “We are waiting for the curtain to open, for all the people to come out. This is not her behaviour. But yes, we also want to know why they made her do this. How they got hold of her. We know that money was not an issue, ever.”
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Kaur robbed four banks in California, Arizona and Utah over two months last year before finally being caught after a high-speed chase in July. During her trial, her attorney asked the court in the Utah town of St George to reduce her sentence, claiming that the young woman, who grew up in California, had been “’trapped’ by her Sikh culture as she grew up, by family difficulties and by ‘bullies’ in her society”, according to the local newspaper, The Spectrum.
"She is educated, she has great worth to society… and she does want to make amends," defence attorney Jay Winward told the court.
The Spectrum reported that Kaur had robbed the banks in order to repay her debts to a "loan shark". The judge who handed Kaur her sentence told the newspaper, "She amassed a large gambling debt and, in order to repay a loan shark, she robbed the banks. That conduct explains why she did what she did, but by no means justifies what she did. … It cannot be used as an excuse in the court's mind."
Kaur’s story would seem to be far removed from the staple tales of desi spelling bee champions and NASA scientists that dominate the Indian-American press. After qualifying as a nurse in California, she had a spell of success in the stock market. She attempted to make a break with her past by moving to Las Vegas, but soon developed a gambling addiction, her lawyer told the court. Kaur returned to an arranged marriage, which led to her “physical and emotional deterioration”, The Spectrum quoted her lawyer as saying.
However, her family painted a completely different picture in an interview to the Indian-American publication India Abroad. A little while after Kaur had been detained in a high-speed chase that involved the police shooting out the tyres of her car, a family member told the publication that the young woman had only recently been accepted for a master’s in health care at the California State University in Long Beach.
“There is someone else behind all this,” the relative told India Abroad. “We are waiting for the curtain to open, for all the people to come out. This is not her behaviour. But yes, we also want to know why they made her do this. How they got hold of her. We know that money was not an issue, ever.”
