Portland, Maine: United States Attorney Paula D. Silsby announced that the Federal District Court in Portland late yesterday sentenced Michael David Willings, 38, of Portland, Maine to 188 months imprisonment, to be followed by 5 years of supervised release in connection with a June 2008 bank robbery of a Biddeford Savings Bank branch on Alfred Street in Biddeford, Maine. Judge D. Brock Hornby also ordered Willings to pay restitution to the Bank in the amount of $6045.

Court documents show that on June 20, 2008, Willings approached a teller at Biddeford Savings Bank holding what appeared to be a handgun, but which was actually an air pistol, and declared that he was robbing the bank. Willings pointed the pistol at bank employees and ordered them to the floor. He made off with $6045. Willings was arrested four days later by Biddeford Police officers, and eventually admitted to committing the robbery. He was charged in federal court with bank robbery, pled guilty on August 27, 2008, and has been in custody since. Based on his prior criminal record, the Court found Willings to be a so-called “career offender” under federal sentencing guidelines, which resulted in an enhanced sentence.

United States Attorney Silsby praised the investigation conducted by the Biddeford Police Department and the FBI.