Claude Williams, Bank Robberies, New Jersey 2012

Claude Williams, a 63-year-old man from Elizabeth, New Jersey, has admitted to robbing seven New Jersey banks at gunpoint and attempting to rob an eighth bank in a string of brazen heists that spanned over a year.

According to court documents, Williams, wearing a bandana, hooded sweatshirt or jacket and white gloves, would enter the bank armed with a handgun and demand money from bank tellers at gunpoint. He used this same procedure for each robbery, vaulting over the counter and making off with cash.

The robberies took place at the following locations:

Financial Resources Federal Credit Union, Somerset, on Sept. 26, 2011
Somerset Savings Bank, Somerville, on Nov. 21, 2011
Provident Bank, Piscataway, on Feb. 27, 2012
Provident Bank, Clifton, on April 17, 2012
Provident Bank, Piscataway, on May 22, 2012
Fulton Bank, Metuchen, on June 20, 2012
Unity Bank, Middlesex, on July 12, 2012
Unity Bank, North Plainfield, on July 30, 2012

On July 12, 2012, an off-duty police officer observed Williams leave the bank and get into a getaway car. The officer followed the car and noted the license plate number. Williams then exited the car and pointed his firearm at the officer, forcing them to leave the scene.

Williams was arrested on July 30, 2012, after law enforcement observed him driving in the vicinity of the Unity Bank in North Plainfield. He admitted to planning to rob the bank at gunpoint.

Williams pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank robbery, bank robbery, and using a firearm during a crime of violence. He faces a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the conspiracy charge, 25 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the armed bank robbery charge, and a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison for the charge of using and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.

Sentencing is scheduled for November 16, 2015.

Co-defendants Andrea Dorsey and Teresa Webb were also charged in connection with the robberies. Dorsey, who served as a lookout and getaway driver for three of the robberies, was sentenced to 87 months in prison on March 13, 2014. Webb, who was the getaway driver for one of the robberies, was sentenced to 54 months in prison on May 30, 2013.

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