SAN FRANCISCO — The Bay Area’s most famous alleged bank robber has set a date to plead guilty to at least one federal charge and the reason why might spare him a jail sentence.
Valentino Giovanni Luchin is a man in his 60s with two wildly different legacies — he is known as a talented, hardworking Italian chef and an inept bank robber. Having already served a yearlong jail sentence for an Orinda bank robbery in 2018, Luchin was indicted last year on charges of attempting to rob three San Francisco banks in the same day.
Now, Luchin has set a court date in late August to change his plea in the three-count robbery case. He was set to change his plea in July, but court officials are still evaluating whether Luchin should qualify for a Conviction Alternatives Program that could allow him to avoid a lengthy prison sentence, records show…