“Common Joe Bandit” Pleads Guilty to Series of Armed Bank Robberies

R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office, announced that defendant Douglas Granston, pled guilty today before U.S. Distrcit Court Judge James I. Cohn in Fort Lauderdale to fifteen counts of armed bank robbery, and two counts of using a gun to facilitate a crime of violence. Sentencing has been scheduled for July 24, 2009, at 11:30 a.m.

Granston was identified as the bank robber after bank surveillance photographs were released to and published by the media. Information generated from the media coverage led to the identification and subsequent arrest of Granston as the person who had robbed the Bank of America, located on West Broward Boulevard in Plantation, FL, on January 16, 2009, as well as other banks.

According to court records, Granston confessed to committing fifteen (15) bank robberies in the Southern District of Florida. Granston also admitted that he carried a loaded .45 caliber pistol during the commission of 14 of the 15 bank robberies. Ammunition used by a .45 caliber pistol was seized from Granston’s residence after he consented to a search.

Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and its Violent Crimes Task Force. The case is assigned to Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Chase.

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