BIRMINGHAM – U.S. District Judge Virginia Emerson Hopkins today sentenced a Montgomery man to 12 years and seven months in prison for five bank robberies in Alabama, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Patrick J. Maley.

NATHAN H. JENKINS JR., 50, pleaded guilty in June to committing four bank robberies in Tuscaloosa and one in Auburn between April 2009 and October 2010.

A federal jury indicted Jenkins in March 2011 for the Oct. 7, 2010, armed robbery of the Bank of Tuscaloosa on North McFarland Circle. He pleaded guilty to that robbery, acknowledging he entered the bank, brandished a toy pistol, demanded money from bank tellers, and stole about $8,000.

Jenkins also pleaded guilty to three additional bank robberies in Tuscaloosa, which prosecutors charged him with after the 2011 indictment. Those robberies all took place at Cadence Bank on McFarland Boulevard North. Jenkins robbed that bank on: April 23, 2009, taking about $17,703; Aug. 14, 2009, taking about $8,782; and Oct. 23, 2009, taking about $12,501.

Jenkins attempted to rob a bank in Auburn in 2010 and pleaded guilty to bank robbery in that case. His robbery attempt at the Bank of Auburn on Oct. 5, 2010, was broken up by bank security officers before Jenkins was able to obtain any money. The Auburn case was transferred in federal court from the Middle to the Northern District of Alabama.

Jenkins was indicted for the Bank of Tuscaloosa robbery along with Tracey Padgett, 48, of Montgomery. Padgett was charged as an accessory after the fact for trying to hide the stolen money in her purse immediately after the robbery. She pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced in August to one year and a day in prison.

“Jenkins went on a manic crime spree in which he robbed the same Tuscaloosa bank three times within six months and robbed another Tuscaloosa bank only three days after being shot at by bank security guards in Auburn who thwarted his robbery attempt there,” Vance said. “Jenkins endangered everyone in these banks and spread fear throughout these college communities. Fortunately, through the combined efforts of local law enforcement and the FBI, this dangerous criminal was captured and convicted of these crimes.”

“I am proud of the investigative efforts of our agents and the Tuscaloosa and Auburn police departments who worked diligently to bring this violent felon to justice,” Maley said.

The FBI and the Tuscaloosa and Auburn police departments investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Terence M. O’Rourke prosecuted it.

 

 

 

 

 

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