Man pleads guilty to 6 bank robberies, 1 in Cranberry
PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh man pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to robbing six banks, including one in Butler County.
Gregory Magee, 48, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of armed bank robbery and four felony counts of bank robbery after being indicted on robbing six banks in Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Lawrence and Washington counties — including the First Niagara Bank on Route 19 in Cranberry Township — between January and November 2016, according to the U.S. Attorney's office in Pittsburgh.
In the Jan. 20, 2016, Cranberry Township robbery, authorities said Magee entered First Niagara Bank at 20111 Route 19 wearing a hooded sweat shirt, cap, sunglasses, gloves and a scarf covering his face and brandished a black 9 mm handgun before demanding money from several tellers, who gave him $5,526.
Other robberies included the First Merit Bank in New Castle on Feb. 29, 2016; the First Niagara Bank in McMurray on March 31, 2016; the First Commonwealth Bank in Pittsburgh on June 8, 2016; the Citizens Bank in Beaver Falls on Aug. 11, 2016; and the S&T Bank in Monroeville on Nov. 8, 2016.
In several of the incidents, Magee threatened to have a gun, and in two of the incidents threatened to have a bomb, according to the news release.
He made off with a total of nearly $120,000 in all the robberies combined, authorities said.
Magee was arrested shortly after the November incident, hiding in a drainage pipe in a wooded area near the bank, and was in possession of the stolen currency and a bag with protruding wires, later determined to be Ethernet cables, police said.
DNA also matched him to some of the other incidents, through items that had been left behind, police said. After his arrest, a 9 mm Kel-Tec handgun loaded with nine rounds of ammunition was recovered from Magee's vehicle, police said.
He is scheduled for sentencing Nov. 29 and could face 20 to 25 years in prison on each of the counts to which he pleaded.
The FBI, Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, Allegheny County Sheriff's Office and police from Cranberry, Chippewa, Union and Peters townships conducted the investigation.
