Chad Schaffner Pleads Guilty to 11 Additional Robberies in Six Federal Districts

Schaffner Previously Pled Guilty to Bank Robberies in the Eastern District of Tennessee

March 17, 2010 - GREENEVILLE, TN—Chad Schaffner, 38, of Indianapolis, Indiana, entered pleas of guilty today, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee in Greeneville, to a total of 11 counts of robbery, which included nine (9) banks, one (1) credit union and one (1) retail store. Additionally, Schaffner pled guilty to 11 counts of use of a firearm during these robberies. Details of today’s guilty pleas by Schaffner are outlined in the six (6) plea agreements on file in United States District Court, Greeneville, Tennessee.

Today’s guilty pleas are in addition to the ones entered by Schaffner in December 2009, to two (2) counts of bank robbery and two (2) counts of use of a firearm during and in relation to a violent crime for the armed robberies of the Community National Bank in Jefferson City, Tennessee, and the First Tennessee Bank in Morristown, Tennessee. Today’s guilty pleas were to robberies committed in the Western District of North Carolina, Eastern District of North Carolina, District of South Carolina, Western District of Kentucky, Southern District of Indiana, and Southern District of Illinois.

Schaffner is scheduled to be sentenced on December 8, 2010, at 1:30 p.m., in the United States District Court in Greeneville, Tennessee.

After a nationwide manhunt, Schaffner was arrested in Missouri where he admitted to robbing Community National Bank and First Tennessee Bank to agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He told the agents that he began robbing banks to support his drug addiction. He also admitted to robbing banks in Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Illinois and Indiana. Schaffner further admitted to using and brandishing two different firearms during the course of these robberies, one of which was recovered from a motel room Schaffner occupied. Both robberies were recorded on video.

Schaffner’s girlfriend, Linda Christina Davis, pled guilty on December 7, 2009, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee in Greeneville, to accessory after the fact to the two Tennessee bank robberies. Davis was arrested with Schaffner in Missouri. She confessed to allowing Schaffner to use her car after the Morristown and Jefferson County robberies and renting motel rooms in various states to allow him to avoid apprehension. Complete details of her involvement can be found in her plea agreement on file with the United States District Court in Greeneville, Tennessee. Davis faces up to 12-and-a-half years for her role. Davis is scheduled to be sentenced on August 9, 2010 at 9:00 a.m., in the United States District Court in Greeneville.

The cases were investigated by the FBI with assistance from local authorities in the other states. The Morristown Police Department and Jefferson City Police Department worked with the FBI on the Tennessee cases. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rob Reeves represented the United States in the United States District Court in Greeneville, Tennessee, and was assisted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Murphy, Eastern District of North Carolina; Assistant U.S. Attorney Don Gast, Western District of North Carolina; Assistant U.S. Attorney Alston Badger, District of South Carolina; Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Ream, Western District of Kentucky; Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley Shepard, Southern District of Indiana; and, Assistant U.S. Attorney Deirdre Durborow, Southern District of Illinois.