MACON, Ga. — A federal judge sentenced a Barnesville man linked to bank robberies in three Georgia cities to four years in prison on Thursday.
According to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Judge Marc Treadwell sentenced 44-year-old Clifford Terrell to four years in prison for bank robberies in Macon, Forsyth, and Columbus in September 2017.
Terrell pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery on May 2.
In his signed plea agreement, he admitted to robbing three banks.
The first was the BB&T on North Lee Street in Forsyth on Sept. 5.
The second happened on Sept. 10, at the CB&T on Milgen Road in Columbus, and the third robbery happened on Sept. 22, at the SB&T on Zebulon Road in Macon.
“Over a period of 17 days in September 2017, this individual terrorized hard-working employees and citizens at three banks in the Middle District of Georgia. The defendant will now pay the consequence for his crime spree by spending the next four years in federal prison,” Charles Peeler, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, said in a release.
In each robbery, Terrell went inside and handed a note to the teller demanding $2,500.
During the robbery in Macon, the teller did not realize Terrell was trying to rob the bank and told him he had filled out the wrong withdrawal slip. He then told the teller he wasn’t joking, and the teller handed over the cash in a bag with a dye explosive.
Terrell was later identified by witnesses because of his tag number. A search warrant was obtained, and agents found dye stains in his car and on his clothes.
“I want to commend the multiple law enforcement agencies that joined forces to quickly shut down and arrest this serial bank robber,” Peeler said.
The release says the Forsyth Police Department, Bibb County Sheriff’s Office, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, Lamar County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force, and the FBI investigated the case.