Bank robbery suspects admit related crimes

Four men suspected of robbing three Lee County banks in November have pleaded guilty to related conspiracy charges.

Jimmie L. Williams, 23; Mathew Manville Perry, 21; Charles Lamar Saulsby, 19; and James Thomas Wynn, 21 all pleaded guilty Friday in Orlando. All are from the West Palm Beach area, and each pleaded to one count of conspiracy to commit bank robbery and two counts of possessing a firearm in relation to a crime.

The men are accused of robbing four banks in Lee and Volusia counties. On Nov. 28, 2005, the men are thought to have robbed a Fifth Third Bank, 2132l U.S. 41 S., Estero. The next day, deputies say, they robbed a Colonial Bank, 20280 Grande Oak Shoppes Blvd., Estero, and a Florida Gulf Bank, 8870 Daniels Parkway, South Fort Myers.

All three robberies were conducted in the same quick fashion. The robbers entered the banks with their faces covered. They quickly displayed guns, forced tellers to the floor and made away with money. In all three Lee County robberies, the suspects’ stolen vehicles were found within a block of the crime scenes.

They robbed a Volusia branch of Prosperity Bank on Dec. 12 and were apprehended shortly afterward.

According to the United States Attorney’s Office in Orlando, the maximum penalty on the conspiracy count is five years’ imprisonment; the first firearms count has a minimum mandatory consecutive sentence of not fewer than seven years up to life imprisonment; and, the second firearms count has an additional minimum mandatory consecutive sentence of not fewer than 25 years to life imprisonment. Sentencing has not been scheduled.