End Of A ‘Career’
Veteran Bank Robber, 52, Sentenced To 25 Years
Posted: January 24, 2013
HARRISONBURG — Less than a year into his newfound freedom in 2011, Edward L. Thompson IV did what he seems to know how to do best.
He committed more crimes.
In U.S. District Court in Harrisonburg on Tuesday, Judge Michael Urbanski sentenced Thompson, 52, to 25 years in prison for two bank robberies: the BB&T bank branch at 250 Neff Ave. in Harrisonburg and a Capital Bank branch in his hometown of Greenville, S.C.
Thompson entered a plea agreement that saved him from possibly receiving the maximum of 40 years in prison for the two offenses. He faces three years of supervised probation upon his release.
The bank heists occurred in August 2011, less than a year after Thompson left prison for bank robberies he was sentenced for in Alexandria in 1999. He also has previous convictions for assault and theft.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy Healey called Thompson the “classic career criminal.”
“I think 25 years … protects society from future action,” she said.
Police say Thompson entered the BB&T on Aug. 3, 2011, claiming he had a gun and demanding cash. A day earlier, he robbed the Greenville bank.
On Aug. 5, 2011, Thompson was captured in Maryland.
He must pay the banks $16,938 in restitution. Officials did not have a breakdown of how much goes to BB&T or Capital.
Thompson actually robbed the banks of more than $28,000 — $18,178 from the Greenville business — but $11,083 has been recovered. Most of the recovered amount was found in a pillowcase in his Jeep, Healey said.
Thompson has relinquished ownership of the Jeep so the government can sell it, and whatever it yields will be docked from the restitution he owes.
He also must repay the rest of the $14,550 taken in the three bank robberies in the late 1990s. Those banks were in Baltimore, Annandale and Alexandria.
How much Thompson has already paid to those banks is unclear.
In robbing the South Carolina and Harrisonburg banks, Thompson violated his supervised probation from the earlier holdups. But Urbanski spared him from spending additional time in prison for that violation, suspending two years for that offense.
The judge noted that Thompson would be in his 70s once he is free again.
“I hope by that time this kind of behavior will be long, long, long in your past,” Urbanski said.
Thompson likely will be imprisoned at a facility close to family in Pennsylvania.
Contact Preston Knight at 574-6272 or pknight@dnronline.com
He committed more crimes.
In U.S. District Court in Harrisonburg on Tuesday, Judge Michael Urbanski sentenced Thompson, 52, to 25 years in prison for two bank robberies: the BB&T bank branch at 250 Neff Ave. in Harrisonburg and a Capital Bank branch in his hometown of Greenville, S.C.
Thompson entered a plea agreement that saved him from possibly receiving the maximum of 40 years in prison for the two offenses. He faces three years of supervised probation upon his release.
The bank heists occurred in August 2011, less than a year after Thompson left prison for bank robberies he was sentenced for in Alexandria in 1999. He also has previous convictions for assault and theft.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy Healey called Thompson the “classic career criminal.”
“I think 25 years … protects society from future action,” she said.
Police say Thompson entered the BB&T on Aug. 3, 2011, claiming he had a gun and demanding cash. A day earlier, he robbed the Greenville bank.
On Aug. 5, 2011, Thompson was captured in Maryland.
He must pay the banks $16,938 in restitution. Officials did not have a breakdown of how much goes to BB&T or Capital.
Thompson actually robbed the banks of more than $28,000 — $18,178 from the Greenville business — but $11,083 has been recovered. Most of the recovered amount was found in a pillowcase in his Jeep, Healey said.
Thompson has relinquished ownership of the Jeep so the government can sell it, and whatever it yields will be docked from the restitution he owes.
He also must repay the rest of the $14,550 taken in the three bank robberies in the late 1990s. Those banks were in Baltimore, Annandale and Alexandria.
How much Thompson has already paid to those banks is unclear.
In robbing the South Carolina and Harrisonburg banks, Thompson violated his supervised probation from the earlier holdups. But Urbanski spared him from spending additional time in prison for that violation, suspending two years for that offense.
The judge noted that Thompson would be in his 70s once he is free again.
“I hope by that time this kind of behavior will be long, long, long in your past,” Urbanski said.
Thompson likely will be imprisoned at a facility close to family in Pennsylvania.
Contact Preston Knight at 574-6272 or pknight@dnronline.com