Serial Bank Robber Sentenced to Over 12 Years in Prison

PROVIDENCE, RI—Thomas J. Flannery, 37, of Sunnyvale, California, has been sentenced to 151 months in federal prison for the February 2011 robbery of a Pawtucket Credit Union branch office in Pawtucket, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and Pawtucket Police Chief Paul King. Flannery pled guilty in federal court on May 14, 2012, to one count of bank robbery.

According to information presented to the court, Flannery was previously convicted and imprisoned for committing six bank robberies between October 2004 and February 2005 in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. In addition, according to information presented to the court, at the time of his arrest for the February 2011 bank robbery in Pawtucket, a task force of federal and state law enforcement agents and officers sought to arrest Flannery in connection with a spree of bank robberies in Massachusetts in January and February 2011.

At the time of his guilty plea before U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., Flannery admitted that on February 14, 2011, he handed a note to a teller at the Pawtucket Credit Union branch office that stated, “No alarms no dye packs no trouble fast and quiet 50s 100s 20s loose bills no big bands.” Flannery admitted that after the bank teller gave him all the cash in the teller drawer, he demanded more money and that a locked cash receptacle next to the teller station be opened. The teller was unable to open it, and Flannery fled after retrieving the note he had handed the teller. According to information presented to the court, Flannery robbed the bank of $1,224.

According to information presented to the court, at the same time the robbery in Pawtucket was being committed, a task force of federal and state law enforcement agents and officers were at a Providence hotel where Flannery was believed to be staying, seeking to arrest Flannery in connection with a spree of bank robberies in Massachusetts in January and February 2011. They arrested Flannery upon his return to the hotel. At the time of his arrest, Flannery was wearing clothing that matched the description of those worn by the person who had robbed the credit union. The note presented to the teller and then retrieved by the bank robber was located in Flannery’s pocket.

Flannery has been detained since his arrest.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard B. Myrus and Stephen G. Dambruch.

The robbery of the Pawtucket Credit Union branch office was investigated by the Pawtucket Police Department, with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.