He owed storage rent, so he robbed a bank of $9,250 wearing a Hawaiian shirt
.jpg "Ronald Thomas of Haltom City pleaded guilty last week to robbing a Richland Hills bank in August.")
A man who stole $9,250 from a Richland Hills Wells Fargo bank to pay storage rent has pleaded guilty to the August holdup.
Ronald Lynn Thomas, 59, of Haltom City, entered his plea last week in federal court on the charge of bank robbery.
It took all of seven minutes for Thomas’ hearing.
Thomas is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 25, and he faces a maximum of 20 years in a federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
At about 12:30 p.m. on Aug. 21, Thomas who wore a Hawaiian shirt walked into the Wells Fargo Bank, 6964 Boulevard 26 in Richland Hills, and handed a teller a note which said, “Give me all the money or it’s going to get ugly.”
The teller handed him $9,250 and he fled on a lime bicycle.
Thomas owned back rent on a U-Haul unit on Flory Street in Richland HIlls.
He went to that U-Haul, rented a truck for $250 and promised to return to pay the back rent.
At about 5 p.m. on Aug. 21, police stopped Thomas driving the rented truck. Authorities found a roll of $100 bills in his pocket and recovered $7.916 in a cash from a bag in the truck.
On the same day of the bank holdup, Thomas rented a truck for $250 and told a U-Haul official he would return