RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Prosecutors say that a man charged with robbing three North Carolina banks by passing notes to the tellers has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.
The Raleigh-based U.S. Attorney’s Office issued a news release saying that Jimmy Earl Godfrey, 47, of Raleigh, received the sentence Wednesday in federal court. He had been charged with three counts of bank robbery and entered a guilty plea last year.
Authorities said that Godfrey robbed three banks in Raleigh in 2018 of amounts ranging from about $1,950 to $8,503. They say in each case he handed the teller a note demanding money.
In the first two robberies, he gave tellers a note with the message, “Give me the cash in large bills with no dye packs or trackers,” according to the news release. The third robbery featured a similar message.
The release said he also typically told the tellers to be calm, saying during the second robbery, “This is a robbery, don’t hit the alarm and don’t make it worse than it has to be, and stay calm.”
Police say they found him about two weeks after the final robbery in a hotel in Hillsborough and that he confessed to the robberies.
A defense attorney didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.