Fort Lauderdale bank robber sentenced to 12 years for hold ups

FLORIDA — A Fort Lauderdale man has been sentenced to prison for a string of bank robberies, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida has announced.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida (USAO), Robert Willis Jr., 47, of Fort Lauderdale, has been sentenced to 145 months in prison and three years of supervised release by United States District Judge Rodney Smith for his participation in a string of bank robberies.

According to court records, between March 23-26, 2022, Willis entered three banks and demanded money while warning tellers he had a gun.

On March 26, 2022, he reportedly entered TD Bank located at 1371 West Palmetto Boulevard in Boca Raton. He allegedly approached and passed a note to the teller, which read, “I have a gun. Do not give me dye money. Do not give me mark money. Do not push any buttons or you will die. Empty your drawers now.”

The victim teller reportedly gave Willis more than $6,000 in U.S. currency, including a bait bill pack that contained a GPS tracking device. As he left the bank’s parking lot, the USAO said a bank manager was able to photograph the getaway vehicle’s license plate.

Willis’s Mitsubishi Outlander was soon spotted by Broward County Sheriff’s deputies. Willis fled the marked police cars, crashing into multiple vehicles and eventually flipping his car onto its side near the corner of US 441 and Commercial Boulevard in Tamarac.

Most of the cash, including the bait bill pack, was recovered near the crash site, the USAO said.

Willis, reportedly had multiple prior convictions for armed/strongarm robbery and had been convicted of attempted murder.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and acting Special Agent in Charge Robert M. Dewitt, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

FBI, Miami Office, investigated this case, with assistance from Broward County Sheriff’s Office and Boca Raton Police Services Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anita White prosecuted the case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.