Serial bank robber sentenced to federal prison

A Georgia man convicted of multiple bank robberies has been sentenced to federal prison for the second time.

David Wayne StanleyStanley, 59, of Cochran, Georgia, was sentenced to 160 months in prison after pleading guilty to bank robbery, said Jill E. Steinberg, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. Chief U.S. District Judge R. Stan Baker ordered Stanley to pay $6,677 in restitution and serve three years of supervised release at the end of his prison term. Stanley must also serve an additional 12 months in prison, consecutive to his new sentence, after Chief Judge Baker revoked Stanley’s supervised release for committing the robbery while serving a prior bank robbery conviction.

“It should be abundantly clear that repeated prison terms have not yet deterred David Wayne Stanley from committing further violent crimes,” U.S. Attorney Steinberg said. “This significant sentence will protect the community while he is behind bars and hold him accountable for his most recent crime.”

As described in court documents and witness testimony, in October 2023, Stanley robbed two Wells Fargo Bank tellers on Ogeechee Road in Savannah, telling them he had a gun and demanding cash from their registers. Investigators from the Chatham County Police Department and the FBI, with assistance from U.S. Probation Services, identified Stanley’s vehicle as the getaway vehicle and subsequently arrested him at his home.

Stanley's prior convictions include a 2016 federal conviction for a Savannah bank robbery for which he served time in prison, and he was on probation at the time of the 2023 robbery. Additionally, Stanley previously served time in Texas state prison for the 2009 robbery of seven banks, and he faces multiple charges for Texas bank robberies that occurred in the days leading up to the October 2023 Savannah robbery.

“Stanley's time in prison apparently didn't do enough for him because he started robbing banks again while he was still on parole for the last heist he committed,” said Constable Will Clarke. special supervisory officer of the FBI's Savannah office in Atlanta. “Thanks to the help of our partners at the Chatham County Police Department, he will have a lengthy stay in federal prison to think about what he will do the next time he is released. »

“This is an example of the great work our Criminal Investigations Division does every day,” said Julie Tolbert, Acting Chief of the Chatham County Police Department. “Our detectives quickly identified the suspect and took him into custody within days of committing this crime. We are proud of the tireless efforts of all law enforcement officers who actively contributed to ensuring this case was solved quickly.”

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Chatham County Police Department, and prosecuted for the United States of America by Assistant United States Attorney Bradley R. Thompson and Special Assistant United States Attorney Makeia R. Jonese.