Edward Dean McCraine, Bank Robbery, CO 2016

Edward Dean McCraine, 60, of Fort Collins, pulled a black handgun and terrorized two TCF Bank tellers in Thornton, Colorado, demanding cash and threatening to shoot one for handing over a GPS tracker. The May 26, 2016, robbery at 9660 Washington Street ended with McCraine stuffing stolen money into a shopping bag and fleeing — but not before sealing his fate with a criminal past that caught up fast.

On February 8, 2017, Senior U.S. District Court Judge Lewis T. Babcock sentenced McCraine to 175 months — nearly 14.5 years — in federal prison for armed bank robbery. He will also face 3 years of supervised release. The sentence comes as McCraine was already under supervision for a 2001 bank robbery conviction, marking a repeat descent into violent crime.

McCraine was first charged by criminal complaint the same day as the heist, May 26, 2016. A federal grand jury indicted him on June 8, 2016. The original charges were dropped when McCraine agreed to plead guilty to a criminal information on November 9, 2016, admitting to all stipulated facts in his plea agreement.

According to court documents, McCraine walked into the bank, drew the firearm from his waistband, and pointed it at two separate tellers. He explicitly warned against handing over dye packs or tracking devices. When one teller did exactly that, McCraine yanked the GPS unit out of the stack and snarled, “I should just shoot you for giving me that.” The tellers, fearing for their lives, complied with the demands.

His capture came not through a high-speed chase, but through a probation officer flipping through photos of wanted bank robbers — and instantly recognizing McCraine’s face. The arrest underscored the thin margin for fugitive felons in an era of digital surveillance and inter-agency coordination.

“Robbing a bank with a gun is volunteering for federal prison. There are cameras and security everywhere, and you are guaranteed to get a long sentence,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer. FBI Denver Division Special Agent in Charge Calvin Shivers added that the case was a “collaborative effort” between federal and local forces, sending a clear message: “They will be aggressively investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” The case was handled by the Thornton Police Department and the FBI’s Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force, with prosecution led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad Giles.