Woman admits trying to rob a bank teller at a drive-up window

Evonne D. Maurice, 22, of Westbrook, Connecticut, pleaded guilty today to attempted bank robbery, admitting that, in December 2005, she tried to rob a bank teller at the drive-up window of a Citizens Bank branch in Garden City, Cranston. Maurice had arrived at the drive-up window in a hired limousine.

The office of United States Attorney Robert Clark Corrente announced the guilty plea, which Maurice entered today before Chief U.S. District Court Judge Mary M. Lisi in U.S. District Court, Providence.

At the plea hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew J. Reich said that the government could prove that, on December 1, 2005, Maurice hired a limousine to drive her from Westbrook to Green Airport. During the trip, she told the driver that she had missed her flight, and asked him to drive to a bank so she could withdraw cash with which to pay him.

The driver pulled into the drive-up lane of the Citizens branch at 5 Garden City Drive. Maurice got out of the back seat, walked up to the drive-up window and passed an envelope through the drawer to the teller. When the teller read the word, “fast,” on the envelope, she triggered an alarm and called police. Maurice got back into the limousine, and the driver, who was unaware of the robbery attempt, drove away from the bank before police arrived.

A note inside the envelope read: “Two bombs in bank. Give me all your money. No dye pack, no bait money, no alarms. Go fast.” Detectives recovered fingerprints from the note, and later matched them to Maurice. She was arrested in May in Tampa, Florida. She told Tampa Police officers that she and her boyfriend had been selling drugs and had run up debts, and that she robbed banks to pay those debts. Maurice confirmed that the limousine driver did not know about the attempted robbery.

Maurice is detained, pending sentencing, which is scheduled for August 8. The maximum penalty for attempted bank robbery is 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

In addition to Cranston and Tampa, Florida police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the attempted bank robbery.