Salisbury Man Sentenced to 13 Years in Prison for Bank Robbery

BALTIMORE—U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced Gary Allen Mitchell, age 43, of Salisbury, Maryland, today to 13 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for bank robbery. Judge Motz enhanced Mitchell’s sentence upon find that he is a career offender based on two prior federal bank robbery convictions—one each in Maryland and Delaware.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Salisbury Police Chief Barbara Duncan; and Wicomico County State’s Attorney Matthew Maciarello.

According to his plea agreement, on March 21, 2013, Mitchell robbed the PNC bank in the 300 block of Civic Avenue in Salisbury. Mitchell gave the teller a note stating that he was robbing the bank, that he would harm the teller if she did not comply with his demands, and that he had a gun. Mitchell had his hand in his pocket as if he had a gun. Mitchell further advised the teller not to pull the alarm, nor give him any marked money, dye packs, or tracking devices. The teller gave Mitchell $4,177, including a tracking device within a stack of $50 bills, as per bank policy. Mitchell became angry that the teller included the tracking device and threw the stack of money on the counter.

Police officers arrested Mitchell, who was found smoking crack cocaine shortly after the bank robbery, and recovered the proceeds of the robbery. At the time of the robbery, Mitchell was on supervised release for a previous federal bank robbery conviction.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the FBI, Salisbury Police Department, and Wicomico County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Bonnie S. Greenberg, who prosecuted the case.