Montgomery Man Pleads Guilty to Five Bank Robberies

BIRMINGHAM—A Montgomery man pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to four bank robberies in Tuscaloosa and one in Auburn, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Patrick J. Maley.

NATHAN H. JENKINS JR., 49, pleaded guilty to the robberies before U.S. District Judge Virginia Emerson Hopkins. His sentencing is scheduled Sept. 28.

Jenkins was indicted in March for the Oct. 7, 2010, armed robbery of the Bank of Tuscaloosa on North McFarland Circle. He pleaded guilty to that robbery, acknowledging he entered the bank, brandished a toy pistol, demanded money from bank tellers, and stole about $8,000.

Jenkins also pleaded guilty to three additional bank robberies in Tuscaloosa, which prosecutors charged him with following the March indictment. Those robberies all took place at Cadence Bank on McFarland Boulevard North. Jenkins pleaded guilty to the following robberies at the Cadence Bank: April 23, 2009, taking about $17,703; Aug. 14, 2009, taking about $8,782; and Oct. 23, 2009, taking about $12,501.

Additionally, Jenkins pleaded guilty to a bank robbery in Auburn. He attempted to rob the Bank of Auburn on Oct. 5, 2010. That robbery was broken up by bank security officers before Jenkins was able to obtain any money. The Auburn case was transferred to federal court in the Northern District of Alabama from the Middle District.

Jenkins was indicted for the Bank of Tuscaloosa robbery along with TRACEY PADGETT, 47, of Montgomery. Padgett was charged as an accessory after the fact for trying to hide the stolen money in her purse immediately after the robbery. She pleaded guilty to the charge April 20.

“These defendants caused fear and trepidation throughout Alabama for two years,” Vance said. “It was only through the combined efforts of local law enforcement and the FBI, across jurisdictional lines, that the duo were brought to justice and those fears were allayed,” she said.

The maximum sentence for armed bank robbery is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum sentence for brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence is seven years in prison, consecutive to the robbery sentence, and a $250,000 fine. The maximum sentence for accessory after the fact is 10 years in prison and a $125,000 fine.

The FBI and the Tuscaloosa Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Terence M. O’Rourke is prosecuting it.