‘Serial bank robber’ hits another Florida bank one day after prison release, feds say
A man is accused of robbing a Florida bank one day after being released from an eight-year prison sentence on bank robbery charges, federal officials said.
The man, a 60-year-old from Orlando, was released from Putnam County Correctional Facility on June 1, 2022, after serving eight years, according to a Feb. 14 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
He was accused of robbing a Wells Fargo on Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando years ago, the attorney’s office said.
He also had previous robbery convictions in 1995, 2006 and 2013, officials said. The attorney’s office called him a “serial bank robber.”
One day after he was released, the man walked into a Truist bank June 2 on the same street as the Wells Fargo and told an employee he had a gun and it was a robbery, officials said.
He demanded $150,000 and told the employee it would be a “bloodbath” if he wasn’t given the money, officials said.
Bank employees handed over $30,000 before the man took an employee’s car keys and drove off, officials said.
One week later, on June 9, the man walked into a SouthState bank in Kissimmee, about 25 miles south of Orlando, according to the attorney’s office.
He again said he had a gun and that it was a robbery, then demanded $50,000, which employees gave him, federal officials said.
He stole an employee’s car keys again, officials said. He was caught later that day in the stolen vehicle with the money, according to the attorney’s office.
While in custody, the man told investigators he was “mentally incompetent and unable to stand trial,” officials said.
In May, he wrote a letter to a family member while claiming to be contacting an attorney and said he was just pretending in order to “manipulate,” “trick” and “fool” the doctors and court system, according to the attorney’s office.
The man pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery Sept. 26, according to the release.
On Feb. 14, the man was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison and forfeiture of $30,000 from the robberies that had not been recovered, federal officials said.
This story was originally published February 16, 2024 at 3:02 PM with the headline "‘Serial bank robber’ hits another Florida bank one day after prison release, feds say."
