Boston Woman Pleads Guilty to Bank Robbery

BOSTON – A Boston woman pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to robbing two banks in the greater Boston area.

Tamea Chambers, 37, pleaded guilty to two counts of bank robbery. U.S. Senior District Court Judge George A. O’Toole scheduled sentencing for Sept. 17, 2018. Chambers was arrested on Oct. 24, 2017, charged in federal court, and has been in custody since.

On Oct. 17, 2017, a branch of the East Boston Savings Bank in Roxbury was robbed.  The tellers stated that a black female entered the bank, demanded money and stated that she had a gun. The tellers gave the robber cash from their drawers and the robber exited the bank. Information, including pictures of the robber, was disseminated on various public websites and provided to local media. Two days later, on Oct. 19, 2017, a branch of Bank of America in Brookline was robbed. The tellers described the robber as a black female wearing a dark wig and reported that the robber entered the bank, stated that she had a gun and demanded cash. Based on the similar descriptions by the tellers at both banks, law enforcement suspected that the same individual was involved in both robberies.

Video footage from a business adjoining one of the banks captured images of the female robber, later determined to be Chambers, in the company of a man. The man, later determined to be Paul Landrum, and previously dubbed by law enforcement as the “Route 128 Bandit,” was the suspect in eight other bank robberies in the Greater Boston area.

On Oct. 24, 2017, Chambers and Landrum were arrested on unrelated charges and admitted their involvement in the various bank robberies

On May 1, 2018, Landrum pleaded guilty to bank robbery and is scheduled to be sentenced in August 2018.

Chambers faces a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Office, made the announcement today. The Massachusetts State Police, and the Boston, Brookline, Medford, Somerville, and Wellesley Police Departments assisted with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth G. Shine of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.