Felons admit to Cranston bank robbery

Christopher M. Thibodeau and Dennis R. Evans pleaded guilty today to federal bank robbery charges, admitting that they robbed tellers of $37,000 at a Bank Rhode Island branch in Cranston last June.  They are previously convicted federal felons who were on supervised release at the time of the robbery:  Thibodeau had been out of prison about six weeks, and Evans about nine months.  They were arrested the day of the robbery, after a police officer saw two men running across I-295, wearing masks. 

        United States Attorney Robert Clark Corrente announced the guilty pleas, which Evans and Thibodeau entered today during separate hearings before Chief U.S. District Court Judge Mary M. Lisi in U.S. District Court, Providence.

        At the hearings, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth P. Madden said the government could prove that Evans and Thibodeau, disguised with masks, caps, and gloves, entered the BankRI branch on Plainfield Pike on the morning of June 29.  Evans was holding what appeared to be a gun, and Thibodeau was holding a steering wheel locking device known as “the club,” which he used to jam closed the bank’s doors. 

        Thibodeau and Evans jumped over the teller’s counter and took money from the drawers, stuffing it into a dark plastic garbage bag.  The robbers also took cash from the bank’s ATM machine.  They fled the bank in a stolen car, which they abandoned in a nearby industrial area.

        A Cranston patrol officer, responding to the robbery report, saw two masked men cross I-295 on foot and head into nearby woods.  Officers from several police departments searched the woods and found Evans lying over a garbage bag full of money.  Police arrested Thibodeau nearby. 

        According to a BankRI tally, approximately $37,553 was taken in the robbery.  Police recovered all but $75.

        Thibodeau and Evans both pleaded guilty to conspiracy and armed bank robbery.  The statutory maximum penalty for armed bank robbery is 25 years in prison, and for conspiracy, it is five years.  Each offense also has a maximum fine of $250,000.

        Thibodeau was sentenced in 1994 to 180 months in prison and five years supervised release for an armed bank robbery in Central Falls.  He was released last May, about six weeks before the Cranston robbery.  In 1992, Evans was sentenced to two years in federal prison plus two years supervised release for being a felon in possession of a firearm.  His period of federal supervised release began in October 2006, when he was released from state prison.

        Thibodeau, 40, and Evans, 57, are scheduled to be sentenced on June 27.  They are detained.

        Cranston Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case.  Rhode Island Sate Police, Johnston Police, and Coventry Police assisted in the arrests.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth P. Madden is prosecuting the case.