A former professional boxing
world champion from Pittsburg was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday on
charges of robbing six East Bay banks, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
James Page, 42, who won the
World Boxing Association’s welterweight title in 1998, faces a maximum penalty
of 20 years in prison for each count of bank robbery.
Authorities say Page stole $17,796
from banks in Walnut Creek, Pleasanton, Oakley, Emeryville, Antioch and
Lafayette between March 6 and June 8. Initially, authorities said he robbed
eight banks.
A break in the robbery
investigation came on May 29 after Oakley officers responded to a domestic
dispute between Page and another person, according to the U.S. Attorney’s
Office. Oakley police recognized Page’s truck as matching the description of a
vehicle involved in a bank robbery earlier that day in Oakley.
In that incident, the robber
handed a teller a note demanding money, police said. No gun was seen.
Authorities found that Page
had served 11 years in federal prison for a bank robbery in Atlanta in 2001,
leading them to arrest him on June 10 in Oakland. He later admitted to robbing the
Oakley bank, authorities said.
A call to Page’s attorney was
not immediately returned.
Page, a native of Pittsburg,
began his boxing career locally but quickly climbed the ladder of fame,
attracting the attention of boxing promoter Don King and knocking out Russian
Andrei Pestriaev in two rounds in Paris to win the World Boxing Association title
in 1998.
Trouble soon found him,
however. He was stripped of his title for failing to show up to a mandatory
fight in 2000 and was arrested for a bank robbery a short time after his final
professional fight to win back the title.
In a jailhouse interview with
this newspaper earlier this month, Page said, “It’s something I got to fight. I’ll
have my day in court.”
Page, who remains in federal
custody, is scheduled to appear for arraignment June 27 in federal court in
Oakland. (Source)
