Bank Robber Convicted

HOUSTON—Cedric Tyrone Walker, 30, has entered a plea of guilty to one count of bank robbery and one count of brandishing a weapon during the course of the bank robbery, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today.

At the hearing today before U.S. District Judge Gray Miller, Walker admitted to having robbed the Wells Fargo Bank at 11725 Sam Houston Parkway East in August 2010 and to committing the offense by brandishing and discharging a firearm in the bank and demanding money from frightened tellers.

The teller area of the bank is protected by what is commonly known as a “Bandit Barrier,” which separates the tellers from the customers. According to the documents in support of the plea today, on August 26, 2010, the bank manager observed Walker stop and approach another employee who was seated assisting a customer and order him to stand and put his hands in the air. Walker placed the gun next to the employee’s ribs and stated, “Get up. You’re being robbed. Take me to the teller line and open the door.” As they approached the teller area, Walker then stuck the revolver in the middle of the employee’s back. Once in the teller area, Walker demanded money from two bank tellers. After obtaining a bag of money, he demanded more. Walker, apparently becoming upset when learning there was no more money, then discharged one round from the revolver he was carrying into the floor in the teller area. He then demanded to know where the bank’s vault was located. Fearing for their lives, the employees directed Walker to the vault. Walker then directed the employees, at gunpoint, to open the vault, remove money, and place it in a purse Walker had retrieved.

As Walker left the bank through the back door, another employee was arriving at work. Walker approached her, holding a gun in his hand, and yelled, “Get out of the car. Give me your keys.” Fearing Walker would shoot her, she got out and gave Walker the keys to her vehicle. Walker then drove away in it.

Walker was later identified as being the person who robbed the bank. In the vehicle stolen from the employee, a black Wells Fargo money bag and torn money straps were found. Walker was arrested September 2, 2010 while driving a different vehicle. Inside, a backpack was recovered and in it, a chrome/silver .38 caliber revolver pistol with three live rounds.

Walker is set for sentencing on June 22, 2012, at which time he faces up to 25 years and a $250,000 fine for the bank robbery conviction in addition to a maximum of life for brandishing a weapon during the bank robbery. He has been in custody since his arrest where he will remain pending that hearing.

The charges are the result of an investigation conducted by officers and FBI agents with the Houston Area Bank Robbery Task Force, a federal, state, and local task force to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who rob banks in the Houston area.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joe Porto and Jennie Basile.