La Mesa

A Vietnam veteran who won two Purple Hearts was sentenced Monday to seven years in federal prison for robbing a La Mesa bank.

John Carl Tallos, 41, of Felton, Calif., received five years for the Aug. 5 robbery of the Crocker National Bank, 4695 Palm Ave., and two years to be served consecutively for failing to show up in court and being in possession of a gun.

His attorney, Bernie Skomal, argued before U.S. District Court Judge Leland Nielsen that Tallos suffered from “post-traumatic stress disorder,” an affliction associated with Vietnam veterans returning from duty.

Besides the Purple Hearts, Skomal said Tallos received a Bronze medal for saving a wounded soldier’s life.

The judge recommended Tallos serve his sentence in a Sandstone, Minn., facility and that he be treated for alcoholism.

Skomal said Tallos wanted to be shot during the robbery, calling it “almost a suicide attempt,” and made no attempt to hide his face.

A La Mesa police officer arrested Tallos several blocks away and recovered the $1,815 taken from the bank.

Skomal argued for a probationary sentence and a commitment to the Veteran’s Hospital for alcoholism treatment.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Mario Arroyo-Tabin and the probation department asked the judge for a 17-year sentence.

The two years tacked onto the robbery sentence were convictions for being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm and failing to appear in court on that charge. Court records show Tallos was convicted in 1980 of “gross sexual imposition” in Ohio.