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Getaway driver in Ricci bank heist gets 5-year term

By Lisa Riley Roche

Deseret News staff writer

The getaway driver in a Sandy bank robbery masterminded by the late Richard Ricci, considered the top potential suspect in the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping, was sentenced Wednesday to five years in prison.
John Russell Remington, 44, faced up to 25 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for his role in the Nov. 2, 2001, robbery of the Far West Bank, 8520 S. 1300 East. He pleaded guilty to one charge of armed bank robbery in October.
Court documents said Remington waited outside the bank in a stolen car while Ricci went inside carrying a Ruger 9mm handgun. Ricci returned with $1,713 and jumped into the car, the documents stated.
A third man involved in the robbery, Douglas Rex Young, waited in another vehicle that was intended to serve as a diversion, according to court documents. Charges are pending against Young.
U.S. District Chief Judge Dee Benson said Remington deserved a break because of his help in the Smart case. Remington approached authorities and offered information about Ricci, a focus of the investigation into the girl's still-unsolved June 5 disappearance.
Remington, in a letter to the court read by Benson, said he came forward "to help in any way I could" and possibly even help authorities find Elizabeth. He said he "felt it was my responsibility as a good citizen to shed light" on the case.
Benson said it turned out that Remington was not that close to Ricci. But, the judge said, that didn't mean he wasn't able to provide information that was of "substantial assistance" to investigators in the Smart case and should be complimented for his efforts.
After the sentencing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Vincent told reporters the information consisted primarily of names and addresses for Ricci's associates. Vincent said he was not aware of any information from Remington that connected Ricci to the kidnapping.
Ricci, who had worked for the Smarts as a handyman, denied any involvement in the abduction of Elizabeth from her bed in her family's Federal Heights home. Ricci died Aug. 31 from a brain hemorrhage.
In court, Remington apologized for the pain he had caused his family and friends as well as the bank employees. Benson, who described Remington's criminal record as "awful," warned him that another serious offense would land him in prison for the rest of his life.
Remington told the judge he appreciated the reduced sentence. "You won't be sorry."

A little revisionist history in the Elizabeth Smart case:

Remington approached authorities and offered information about Ricci, a focus of the investigation into the girl's still-unsolved June 5 disappearance.

The original story was Ricci gave police Young and Remington's names as people he had worked with in Federal Heights and Remington returned the favor by fingering Ricci as the gunman in the bank robbery.

This is from the SLC Tribune on Oct 17:

A separate bank robbery charge filed against Remington was dismissed on Wednesday. Prosecutors had alleged that he robbed a Murray bank of nearly $700. Remington's criminal history dates to the 1980s, when he was sentenced to up to life in prison for bank robbery. He was later sentenced to 14 years in prison after he went on a crime spree while on a home visit from the Utah State Prison, according to a story in the Jan. 19, 1986, edition of The Salt Lake Tribune. For a Salt Lake County robbery committed during the home visit, Remington, then 28, was convicted of being a habitual criminal and given an additional sentence of 5 years to life. He served two years in prison and completed his parole on March 8, 1994.

And now this guy will be out of jail again in no more than 5 years. What is up with Utah?

None of the Utah papers printed a picture of Remington in the articles about the court decision this past week. We have still never seen a picture of John Russell Remington.