News Service from House Harris

US: Aussie "Dumb and Dumber" bank robber completes US jail sentence

LOS ANGELES, Feb 28 AAP - One half of Australia's infamous "Dumb and Dumber" bank robbing duo, Anthony Prince, has completed his US federal prison sentence and is a free man back in Australia.

Prince, escorted by two US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, landed in Australia aboard a commercial passenger flight last Wednesday.

"He was placed in ICE custody and then removed from the United States," ICE spokesman Mark Madesky confirmed to AAP.

Prince and his Australian mate Luke Carroll, both from Byron Bay in northern NSW, made headlines around the world for their bumbling 2005 armed bank robbery in the scenic snow skiing paradise of Vail, Colorado.

The then 19-year-olds, in the US on a working holiday, stormed the Weststar bank with BB guns and stole $US132,000 ($A203,200)

They earned the "Dumb and Dumber" nickname for the rich trail of clues they left for police.

During the robbery, Prince and Carroll wore name tags from the Vail sporting goods store where both worked and they failed to disguise their distinct Australian accents.

They were regular customers in the bank so, with their accents, they were easily identified by the tellers they robbed.

Hours after the brazen heist, Prince and Carroll went on a buying spree with the loot, handing over $US11,000 ($A16,930) in cash in a jewellery store.

They raised eyebrows when they tried to buy one-way airfares to Mexico with cash.

Prince and Carroll also took photographs of themselves in a public toilet posing with the stolen cash.

The photos, discovered by police on a digital camera, became key prosecution evidence and were released to the media, adding to the pair's notoriety.

When they were arrested at Denver international airport Prince had $US4,500 stuffed in his shoes and $US9,000 ($A13,850) in a money belt, and while being held in a cell at the airport the pair tried to flush $US800 ($A1,230) down a toilet.

Prince, now 23, was sentenced to four and a half years in the US federal prison system, while Carroll, also 23, who pushed one of the female tellers to the floor and injured her arm during the robbery, received a five-year term.

Carroll is currently being held in the low-security section of the Allenwood Federal Correctional Centre in White Deer, Pennsylvania, and is due for release on July 29.

Prince was released from Allenwood on February 19 and was immediately taken into the custody of ICE, then subsequently flown to Australia.