Cranston Bank Robber Sentenced to 84 Months in Federal Prison

PROVIDENCE, RI—A Providence, R.I., woman who walked into a Cranston bank claiming to have a bomb while robbing the bank of more than $1,800 in July 2010 was sentenced Wednesday to 84 months in federal prison, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha. Anita Jackson, 51, was arrested about three weeks after the July 1, 2010 robbery, when a Rhode Island Corrections Officer recognized the woman from bank surveillance photographs broadcast on local TV.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Mary M. Lisi also ordered the defendant to pay restitution to the bank in the amount taken in the heist.

U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha commented, “This Office, as I have stated time and time again, is committed to protecting banks and most importantly the people who use them and work at them. Every bank robbery, regardless by what means, is investigated and prosecuted with the same intensity.”

According to court documents and information presented to the Court by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gerard B. Sullivan, Anita Jackson entered the Sovereign Bank branch on Reservoir Avenue and approached two tellers and demanded cash, threatening that she had a bomb. Witnesses described the “bomb” as a box that was blue and black in color, covered in tape with wires protruding.

Jackson approached the first teller and handed her a bag and told her to give her the money or she would use the bomb. The teller gave the woman the money from her top drawer. Then the robber warned the teller that she should not be stupid and demanded more money. The teller gave the robber additional cash. The robber went to the next teller and asked for more money before leaving the bank.

At the time of her arrest, Jackson was being held at the prison on a shoplifting charge.

The case was investigated by Cranston Police and the FBI.