The FBI has levelled new allegations against the B.C. man accused of masterminding an elaborate bank heist near Seattle, saying he planned to use the proceeds to establish a gang in the Okanagan.

Luke Sommer, 20, is under house arrest at his mother's home in the Okanagan. Police allege he told them: 'The robbery was more exciting than combat.'Luke Sommer, 20, is under house arrest at his mother's home in the Okanagan. Police allege he told them: 'The robbery was more exciting than combat.'
(CBC)
Luke Sommer is alleged to be the ringleader of the group of five men — who were all members of an elite U.S. Army Ranger unit — accused of storming a Bank of America branch in Tacoma, Wash., in the summer.

Armed with AK-47 assault rifles, the masked men were in and out in less than three minutes and escaped with more than $50,000 US, according to court records.

The 20-year-old Sommer, who has dual Canadian-U.S. citizenship, saw combat in Iraq in 2004 and in Afghanistan in 2005. When he wasn't serving in the army unit based in Fort Lewis, Wash., Sommer lived in Peachland, a small community south of Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley.
 
FBI special agent Monte Shaide said another suspect in the case had revealed Sommer's motivation.

"Sommer planned to challenge the Hells Angels for control of the drug running and extortion rackets in that area," Shaide said in a document recently filed in a Seattle court.

The FBI described the operation as being carried out with "military-style precision and planning," in documents filed in court.

In other court documents filed by police, Sommer is alleged to have said: "The robbery was more exciting than combat."

Those allegations have not been proved in court.

The masked men were in and out of the bank in Tacoma, Wash., in less than three minutes and escaped with more than $50,000 US.The masked men were in and out of the bank in Tacoma, Wash., in less than three minutes and escaped with more than $50,000 US.
(CBC)
However, documents filed in court also show the FBI seized hand grenades and a homemade bomb from a storage unit as part of its investigation.

Sommer was arrested by the RCMP in Peachland in August and is now living there with his mother under house arrest. He is under strict bail conditions, including a ban of possession of weapons.
 
A federal grand jury has indicted Sommer on 11 charges, most of them related to the bank robbery.

U.S authorities want him extradited. His next extradition hearing is scheduled for the new year.

The RCMP in Kelowna said they have not been made aware of any plan to take on the Hells Angels, and that it's unlikely that such a small group could challenge them successfully.