Las Vegas Man Pleads Guilty To Armed Bank Robbery With Homemade Simulated Explosive Device

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – A Las Vegas man pleaded guilty today to robbing a bank with a homemade simulated explosive device with wires and blinking lights worn under his clothes, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Steven W. Myhre for the District of Nevada.

Vincent Earl Hagey, 46, pleaded guilty to one count of armed bank robbery and one count of attempted armed bank robbery. United States District Judge Jennifer Dorsey accepted the guilty plea and scheduled sentencing for Oct. 16, 2017. At the time of sentencing, Hagey faces the maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

According to admissions in the plea agreement, on Feb. 17, 2017, Hagey, wearing a white hat, black suitcoat and a blue tie, entered a Bank of America and presented a bank robbery note to a teller stating that he had a bomb. Hagey then pressed a button in his clothing and a blinking blue light lit on his chest. The teller gave Hagey $1,131, and he left the bank.

On March 13, 2017, Hagey was arrested while leaving a Wells Fargo Bank wearing the same clothes and homemade device from the February bank robbery. The homemade contraption was made of batteries, wire, and a lighted circuit board, with a wire running up his sleeve to a push-button near his cuff. Hagey could activate the button on his cuff to make the blue light on the circuit board blink on and off. During an interview with law enforcement, Hagey confessed to robbing the Bank of America and attempting to rob the Wells Fargo Bank, both with the use of the simulated explosive device under his clothing.

The case is being investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Jaroch.

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