Donald Bernard Kelly Enters Guilty Plea to Second Bank Robbery

AUGUSTA, GA—Edmund A. Booth, Jr., United States Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, announced today that Donald Bernard Kelly, age 44 of Ellenwood, Georgia, entered a guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Augusta, Georgia to a charge of bank robbery of a Wachovia Bank in Macon, Georgia on July 11, 2008, for which he had been indicted in the Middle District of Georgia.

Booth stated that the case was transferred to the Southern District of Georgia for disposition. Kelly had previously entered a guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Augusta to a charge of bank robbery of the Wachovia Bank on Wheeler Road in Augusta which occurred on July 16, 2008.

Booth said that evidence at the plea hearing showed that on July 11, 2008, Kelly entered the Wachovia Bank on Tom Hill, Senior Boulevard in Macon and handed the teller a note demanding money. Kelly took approximately $2300.00 and fled the scene. He was arrested after his capture on the Augusta bank robbery and has remained in federal custody.

Booth noted that Kelly had been released in 2006 from federal prison after serving approximately 11 years for a previous bank robbery in the Northern District of Georgia. Kelly faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine in each case. A sentencing date has not been scheduled.

Booth praised the joint efforts of the Georgia State Patrol, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Richmond County Sheriff’s Department. The government is represented in these cases by Assistant United States Attorney Patricia G. Rhodes.