Bank Robber Sentenced for Peninsula Robberies
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A Newport News man was sentenced today to 12 years in prison for robbing two banks and a check cashing store.
According to court documents, Robert S. Carpenter, 30, committed a series of robberies in Hampton and Newport News over two weeks in the Fall of 2016. On Aug. 23, 2016, Carpenter robbed Approved Cash Advance on J. Clyde Morris Boulevard in Newport News, implying he had a firearm. A week later, on Sept. 1, 2016, Carpenter robbed the Virginia Educator’s Credit Union on Main Street in Newport News. On Sept. 6, 2016, armed with a gun, Carpenter robbed the Wells Fargo bank on Marketplace Drive in Hampton. Carpenter entered each location masked and demanded money, and ultimately stole more than $21,000. Hampton police located Carpenter after Wells Fargo tellers placed GPS trackers into the stolen money.
Tracy Doherty-McCormick, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Thomas L. Chittum, III, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) Washington Field Division, Terry L. Sult, Chief of Hampton Police Division, Michael C. Grinstead, Acting Chief of Newport News Police, and Anton A. Bell, Hampton Commonwealth’s Attorney made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy E. Cross prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:17-cr-32.
Joshua Stueve
Director of Communications
joshua.stueve@usdoj.gov