A Vineland man today admitted stealing a car and using it as part of a South Jersey bank robbery spree in September and October 2016, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
According to authorities, Nathan L. Wallace, 29, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Renée Marie Bumb to an information charging him with three counts of bank robbery. Wallace has been in custody since his arrest in October 2016.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Wallace admitted stealing a 2003 Chrysler Sebring on Sept. 22, 2016 by threatening the victim with a toy revolver resembling an actual firearm. Wallace also admitted taking the Sebring on Sept. 24, 2016 to a BB & T Bank in Buena Vista Township, New Jersey, where he used the toy revolver to threaten bank employees and demand money. After taking cash from the employees, Wallace fled in the Sebring.
Authorities said Wallace also admitted traveling in the same stolen Sebring with Quintin L. Jones, 35, of Vineland, to rob a Newfield National Bank in Newfield, New Jersey, on Oct. 7, 2016, and a Cape Bank in Upper Deerfield Township, New Jersey, on Oct. 11, 2016. During both robberies, one of the defendants used a toy revolver to threaten bank employees and steal money before they both fled in the stolen Searing.
In addition, Wallace admitted that he and Jones set fire to the Sebring on Oct. 15, 2016 in order to destroy evidence of the robberies.
Each bank robbery count is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Wallace’s sentencing is set for April 30, 2018.
Jones pleaded guilty on Nov. 8, 2017 and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 23, 2018.