Spelling Bee Bandit Jason Englen Gets 7 Years for 4 Bank Heists

Jason S. Englen, 34, of Chelsea, Massachusetts, is headed to federal prison for seven years after being convicted in a string of four bank robberies that earned him the nickname the ‘Spelling Bee Bandit’—not for brilliance, but for botching the spelling of ‘robbery’ on his handwritten demand notes. The so-called mastermind behind the bungled heists was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to 84 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

The first strike came on October 31, 2016, when Englen walked into a TD Bank branch in Arlington, approached a teller, and slapped down a deposit slip scrawled with a note demanding cash. The teller complied, handing over an undisclosed sum, but Englen left behind the damning slip—on which the word ‘robbery’ was misspelled. He bolted without a weapon, but with a trail of paper evidence that would eventually land him behind bars.

Over the next two weeks, three more banks fell to the same scheme. On November 5, a TD Bank in Reading was hit. On November 7, Salem Five in Burlington. On November 13, another TD Bank, this time in Peabody. Each time, the same note format, the same physical description, the same amateur handwriting. Law enforcement caught on fast. The pattern was too obvious to ignore.

Investigators, struggling to ID the suspect publicly, dubbed him the ‘Spelling Bee Bandit’ in media appeals. The name stuck. But they didn’t need public tips for long. Englen was already locked up in state custody on unrelated charges. Once detectives matched his handwriting and description, federal agents moved in. On December 12, 2016, he was arrested and charged with four counts of bank robbery.

In November 2017, Englen pleaded guilty to all counts. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth G. Shine, of the Major Crimes Unit, prosecuted the case, painting Englen as a repeat offender who thought he could outsmart the system with a pen and a slip of paper. The misspelled note became the punchline—but also the smoking gun.

The takedown was a joint effort by federal and local forces. United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling, FBI Boston Chief Harold H. Shaw, Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins, and police chiefs from Arlington, Reading, Burlington, and Peabody all confirmed the sentencing today. For Englen, the joke’s over. His next seven years will be spent behind bars, courtesy of his own poor spelling.

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