Johnathan Samuel Borden, Bank Robbery, TX 2017

Two banks. Two black bags. One man. Johnathan Samuel Borden, 32, of Corpus Christi, is going to federal prison after admitting to holding up two credit unions in a two-week crime spree that terrorized South Texas tellers and triggered a multi-agency manhunt.

Borden pleaded guilty on November 20, 2017, to two counts of bank robbery. Today, Senior U.S. District Judge John Rainey slammed him with a 48-month prison sentence, followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay full restitution to both financial institutions, though the exact dollar amounts were not disclosed in court documents.

The first heist struck on January 6, 2017, at the Texas Bridge Credit Union in the 3100 block of Holly Road. Surveillance footage shows Borden walking in calm, handing a bag to the teller, and demanding cash. He left with a large stack of U.S. currency before vanishing into the morning traffic. Less than three weeks earlier—on December 20, 2016—agents tied him to a nearly identical robbery at the Navy Army Community Credit Union on South Padre Island Drive.

In that earlier hit, Borden used the same playbook: enter, hand over a black bag, demand money, walk out. No weapons were displayed, but the threat was implicit. Investigators from the FBI and Corpus Christi Police Department matched physical evidence and surveillance patterns, linking both crimes to Borden through forensic and visual confirmation.

Arrested shortly after the second robbery, Borden has been in federal custody ever since. He will remain behind bars while officials determine which U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility will house him. No early release is expected under the terms of his sentence.

The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, with U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick confirming the conviction. The FBI and local police say the swift resolution sends a message: bank robbery remains a federal offense—and Texas doesn’t take kindly to armed demands, even if the weapon is silence.