Serial Bank Robber Sentenced To Lengthy Prison Term

Defendant admitted robbing Albany, GA bank, others, after arrest in Florida bank robbery case

ALBANY – A Florida man who robbed the Peoples South Bank in Albany, Georgia in 2016 was sentenced to 78 months in prison for his crime, the upper range calculated under the federal sentencing guidelines, announced U.S. Attorney Charles “Charlie” Peeler. Avery Williams, 38, of Quincy, Florida, was sentenced on Thursday, July 11, 2019 by U.S. District Judge W. Louis Sands in Albany, Georgia. Mr. Williams is currently serving time in a Florida prison on a prior bank robbery conviction, and his federal sentence will run concurrently. There is no parole in the federal system.

According to facts in the signed plea agreement, Mr. Williams admitted that he robbed the Peoples South Bank at 701 N. Westover Boulevard in Albany on September 9, 2016. Mr. Williams was recorded on security video walking into the bank and passing a demand note to the teller. The defendant escaped with cash. Following the robbery, agents were able to quickly determine that the suspect was likely the same person responsible for a robbery a month earlier in Dothan, Alabama, on August 18, 2016. Eight months after the Albany bank robbery, Mr. Williams was arrested on May 3, 2017 for a bank robbery in Sarasota, Florida. Under oath, he admitted to the Florida robbery, and said “he had a few more things to get off his chest” and told agents he robbed banks in Albany and Dothan.

“Law enforcement caught up to this serial bank robber well before his conscience did,” said Charlie Peeler, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia. “I want to thank our strong law enforcement community that stopped a dangerous man who repeatedly caused havoc in communities across the southeast.”

The case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Leah McEwen prosecuted the case for the Government. Questions can be directed to Pamela Lightsey, Public Information Officer, United States Attorney’s Office, at (478) 621-2603 or Melissa Hodges, Public Affairs Director (Contractor), United States Attorney’s Office, at (478) 765-2362.