By Jon Johnson
TUCSON — Michael Dino Peraino, 64, of Willcox, was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison on Feb 9, followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to bank robbery.
U.S. District Judge Scott H. Rash handed down the sentence in Tucson federal court. Peraino had previously entered a guilty plea to the charge.
The robbery occurred on July 10, 2025, at a Chase Bank branch in Safford. Peraino entered the bank shortly after noon and handed a note to a teller demanding $10,000 in cash. He urged the teller to hurry and claimed to be armed, motioning toward his waistband to imply he had a firearm, though no weapon was displayed or recovered in connection with the incident.
Peraino fled the bank with approximately $10,000 and escaped in a maroon van with Tyler Michael Thayer, 31, who was also implicated in the crime. The two men were located and taken into custody later that day, around 5:15 p.m. at the Apache Gold Casino on the San Carlos Apache Reservation, east of Globe. The authorities involved included the San Carlos Apache Police Department, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The men were initially booked into the Graham County Adult Detention Facility on state charges, including armed robbery, aggravated assault, and theft. They were transferred to federal custody with the FBI on July 14, 2025, as the FBI assumes primary jurisdiction over robberies of federally insured banks like Chase.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Phoenix Division, Sierra Vista office, and the Safford Police Department, with prosecution handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona in Tucson.
While Peraino has been sentenced following his guilty plea, his co-defendant, Thayer, is still being adjudicated.
