He robbed a Boca Raton bank. He hit cars on I-95 in making a getaway. Now he's headed to prison.
A Fort Lauderdale man who crashed into several cars as he tried to elude police who suspected him of robbing a Boca Raton bank in March has been sentenced to 12 years in prison in connection with a string of heists in Palm Beach and Broward counties.
The sentence U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith handed 47-year-old Robert Willis Jr. this week was four years more than the maximum he could have received under federal sentencing guidelines.
Federal prosecutors persuaded Smith that Willis deserved a harsher punishment because of his long criminal record, including a conviction for attempted murder.
Further, even though Willis only admitted to robbing the TD Bank in Boca, as part of a plea deal, he agreed that Smith could consider that he had been charged in connection with two other holdups, prosecutors said.
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The robbery at the bank branch on West Palmetto Park Road capped what federal prosecutors said was a weeklong spree.
When Willis arrived at the TD Bank on March 26 police already suspected him of robbing Wells Fargo banks in Greenacres and Fort Lauderdale days earlier. The same Mitsubishi Outlander was reported as being the getaway vehicle at all three heists, according to court records.
At TD Bank, Willis made his orders clear. “I have a gun. Do not give me dye money. Do not give me mark money,” Willlis wrote in a note he handed to the teller. “Do not push any buttons or you will die. Empty your drawers now.”
The teller gave him $6,060, including a bait bill that contained a tracking device, court records show.
Police followed him on Interstate 95. Driving erratically, Willis crashed into several cars before he finally lost control of the Outlander. It flipped over on Commercial Boulevard at U.S. 441 in Tamarac, according to court records.
As part of his sentence, Willis was ordered to pay $6,560 in restitution.
Jane Musgrave covers federal and civil courts and occasionally ventures into criminal trials in state court. Contact her at jmusgrave@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Judge sentences man to 12 years for South Florida bank robberies
