A man from Gastonia, North Carolina has been sentenced to 11.5 years in prison for a brazen bank robbery in 2012. According to court documents, James McConnell, 48, walked into a BB&T branch at 9200 S. Tryon Street in Charlotte, armed with a gun, and demanded $2,500 in large bills from a bank teller.
However, the teller handed McConnell $505 in small bills, which he then took and fled the scene.
McConnell was arrested on June 16, 2012, on unrelated charges and was identified by a witness as the man captured on the bank’s cameras.
He pleaded guilty in July 2014 to one count of bank robbery and has two prior federal bank robbery convictions.
According to court documents, McConnell remains in federal custody and will be turned over to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.
The investigation was handled by the FBI’s Charlotte Division and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department, with assistance from the Gastonia Police Department. The prosecution for the government was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Corey Ellis of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte.
McConnell’s case serves as a reminder of the severity of the penalties for bank robbery. The crime can result in lengthy prison sentences and a lifetime of consequences for those convicted.
Related Federal Cases
- Raymond Griffin, Bank Robbery, North Carolina 2017 · North Carolina
- Daquan Madrid Pridgen, Bank Robbery, North Carolina 2018 · North Carolina
- Stanley Kearney Jr., Armed Bank Robbery, North Carolina 2019 · North Carolina
- Stanley Kearney Jr, Armed Bank Robbery, North Carolina 2024 · North Carolina
- Alex Arnez Jones, Armed Robbery Spree, North Carolina 2015 · North Carolina
Key Facts
- State: North Carolina
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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