FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A man has been sentenced to 145 months in prison and three years of supervised release by United States District Judge Rodney Smith for his participation in a string of bank robberies, authorities said.
The suspect was identified as 47-year-old Robert Willis Jr. of Fort Lauderdale.
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According to court records, between March 23-26., Willis entered three banks and demanded money while warning tellers he had a gun.
On March 26. Willis entered TD Bank located at 1371 West Palmetto Boulevard in Boca Raton.
Authorities said Willis walked up to the counter and passed a note to the teller which read, “I have a gun. Do not give me dye money. Do not give me mark money. Do not push any buttons or you will die. Empty your drawers now.”
According to a press release, the teller gave Willis more than $6,000 in U.S. currency, including a bait bill pack that contained a GPS tracking device.
As he left the bank’s parking lot, a bank manager was able to photograph the getaway vehicle’s license plate.
Authorities said Willis’s Mitsubishi Outlander was spotted by Broward County Sheriff’s deputies.
The press release said Willis fled the marked police cars, crashing into multiple vehicles and eventually flipping his own car onto its side near the corner of US 441 and Commercial Boulevard in Tamarac.
Most of the cash, including the bait bill pack, was recovered near the crash site.
Willis, who’d had multiple prior convictions for armed/strongarm robbery, also had been convicted of attempted murder.
Juan Antonio Gonzalez, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and acting Special Agent in Charge Robert M. Dewitt, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.
According to the press release, FBI, Miami Office, investigated this case, with assistance from Broward County Sheriff’s Office, and Boca Raton Police Services Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anita White prosecuted the case.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.