Serial Bank Robber Pleads Guilty

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Matthew G.T. Martin, United States Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina, announced today that TYRONE THOMAS WOODS pleaded guilty to multiple bank robberies and a firearm charge.

WOODS, age 44, of Greensboro, North Carolina, pleaded guilty before Chief United States District Judge Thomas D. Schroeder in federal court in Winston-Salem.

WOODS pleaded guilty to four armed bank robberies, one bank robbery, and one count of brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. The armed bank robberies occurred in the following dates and locations:

• May 21, 2018 – SunTrust Bank, 5705 Gate City Blvd., Greensboro, NC;

• June 20, 2018 – Fidelity Bank, 1035 Randolph St., Thomasville, NC;

• July 23, 2018 – Piedmont Federal Savings Bank, 505 Pineview Dr., Kernersville, NC; and

• November 2, 2018 – Sharonview Federal Credit Union, 4418 Park Rd., Charlotte, NC.

WOODS also pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery occurring on October 2, 2018, at PNC Bank, 823 South Main St., Kernersville, NC.

The defendant faces a maximum penalty on the robbery counts of not more than twenty-five years imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000, or both. On the firearm count, the defendant faces a sentence of not less than seven years, nor more than life, that will run consecutive to the sentence imposed for the bank robberies. The defendant will also be subject to a term of supervised release of up to five years, and may be ordered to pay restitution. Sentencing will occur in Winston-Salem on November 20, 2019 at 2:00 p.m.

The case was investigated by the Greensboro Police Department, Thomasville Police Department, Kernersville Police Department, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, and the FBI Safe Streets Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lisa B. Boggs.