Man sentenced for 6 bank robbery convictions
A Hilltop resident who pleaded guilty to six counts of bank robbery for holdups in Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Indiana learned his fate today…18 years in prison. William J McBride, 49, has been robbing banks for more than thirty years and has been getting away with it since…well, never. The man always ends up getting busted. These most recent six convictions were only the latest in a string of more than 20 robberies. (jj)
[symple_button url=”http://www.nbc4i.com/story/29307797/columbus-man-gets-18-years-for-armed-robberies-in-multiple-states” color=”red” button_target=”_blank”]More at NBC4[/symple_button]Previous: Hilltop man marks more than 30 years in bank-robbing biz 2/2/15
Hilltop resident William J. McBride puts me in mind of a line from one of my favorite episodes of The West Wing. The president’s aide, Charlie Young, is being asked to mentor a young kid who keeps finding himself on the wrong side of the law. Hearing the kid mouth off to the president’s press secretary, Charlie reads the kid the riot act and says, in part: “…every time you do a crime, you get caught. So I think you’re gonna have to do something else.”
In McBride’s case, he either was never offered, or just never took such advice. He’s been robbing banks for more than thirty years…and keeps getting caught. His first bank robbery conviction came in 1984. Then…he started getting busted in bulk. In 1992, McBride was sentenced to seven years in prison for the commission of 5 robberies. In 2001, he was given a twelve years sentence for the commission of 9 more. And Monday in federal court, he fessed up to 6 additional robberies. These last six occurred across five states and netted him somewhere around $21,000. An FBI agent involved in the investigation says that McBride used what appeared to be a semi-automatic handgun in the cases, but it turned out just to be a pellet gun.
This looks like it could be the end of the road for our hero. He’s facing the possibility of 25 years on each of the six new convictions. Sentencing has yet to be scheduled.
On The West Wing, the kid got his act together. For McBride, it might be a bit too late. (jj)
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