OCEAN CITY — An Illinois man, dubbed the “I-55 Bandit” after pulling off a string of at least nine bank robberies in five states last summer, including one in Ocean City, was sentenced last week to five years in prison and was ordered to pay over $31,000 in restitution to the victims.
In December, Andrew Maberry, 19, of O’Fallon, Illinois, entered a guilty plea in U.S. District Court to nine bank robberies from Missouri to Ocean City and from West Virginia to Tennessee over a period of several months from May to August last year. Four of the bank robberies took place in Maryland, including the July 24 robbery of the Susquehanna Bank on 94th Street in Ocean City.
Last Friday, Maberry appeared in U.S. District Court in Missouri for sentencing. He was sentenced to five years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $31,219 in restitution to the banks victimized during his spree.
On Sept. 11, 2013, Maberry surrendered to the FBI office in St. Louis less than 24 hours after an extensive media campaign was launched seeking the public’s help in identifying and capturing the notorious “I-55 Bandit.” From May to August, Maberry robbed at least nine banks and attempted two others in five states including Illinois, Missouri, West Virginia, Tennessee and Maryland. The “I-55 Bandit” moniker stems from the fact he robbed multiple banks in the St. Louis area along the Interstate 55 corridor.
Surveillance images captured at the banks Maberry robbed, including the Susequehanna Bank on 94th Street in Ocean City on July 24, appear to indicate the suspect was a busy man and crisscrossed the eastern half of the country. For example, the “I-55 Bandit” made his first appearance in Illinois on May 6 and allegedly hit two banks in Missouri on May 15 and May 21. He made his first appearance in Maryland on June 5 with a bank robbery in Bel Air.
He then went back to Missouri and hit the Commerce Bank in Arnold on July 2 before returning to Maryland to hit another bank in Bel Air on July 19, followed the robbery in Ocean City on July 24. After successfully evading capture here, Maberry went on to hit banks in West Virginia and Tennesee, the last of which occurred on Aug. 14. Perhaps feeling the dragnet tightening, Maberry turned himself in to the FBI office in St. Louis on Sept. 11.
Maberry was indicted in U.S. District Court in Missouri in September and charged with bank robbery by force or violence and robbery of a federally insured institution for the July 2 robbery of the Commerce Bank in Arnold, Missouri. That set in motion his indictment on eight other bank robberies including the Ocean City job.
Around 10 a.m. on July 24, an unidentified suspect walked into the Susquehanna Bank on 94th Street and demanded money, received an undisclosed amount of cash and then casually walked back to his awaiting vehicle several blocks away. After robbing the Ocean City bank, the suspect, later identified as Maberry, casually walked south on West Biscayne Drive to his parked vehicle.
He then traveled through the Little Salisbury community to Pacific Ave., but was not seen again. The case remained under investigation and had not been solved until Maberry turned himself in to the FBI and a link was established between as many as nine robberies and two attempted robberies in five states over a period of about two months throughout the summer.
On Sept. 10, 2013, a multi-state press release was issued, which included bank security camera photographs and video footage of the “I-55 Bandit.” The FBI district office in St. Louis and in other districts received numerous phone calls from individuals stating they knew Maberry. He turned himself in to authorities in Missouri the very next day.