An elderly bank robber will probably spend the rest of his life in prison, after telling officials point blank that he'd pull another job if he had the chance.
J.L. Hunter Rountree, 92, was sentenced by a Lubbock court last month to more than 12 years in a federal prison. He pleaded guilty to robbing $1,999 in August from an Abilene branch of the $3.3 billion-asset First American Bank in Bryan, Tex. - at least his third heist since he began this line of work at the age of 87.
"It's an unfortunate set of circumstances, but there was just no way that we could recommend any other sentence given the fact that he told FBI investigators that if he were to be released, he'd just rob another bank," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey R. Haag, who prosecuted the case, said in an interview Tuesday.
According to Mr. Haag, Mr. Rountree said he started robbing banks in 1998 because he was angry that a Texas bank had called in a business loan over late payments. At the time, he told officials, he had a failing shipbuilding business in Corpus Christi, and he claimed the bank's actions caused him to declare bankruptcy.
Federal officials say Mr. Rountree is probably the oldest bank robber in U.S. annals. He already had the distinction of being the oldest person to sentenced to prison in Florida, serving three years for robbing a Pensacola bank in 1999. He was released in 2002.
"This is certainly one of the most interesting cases I've tried," Mr. Haag said. "Mr. Rountree has had a very eventful life - many good things and bad things have happened to him."
His life story was featured in the January issue of GQ. The article, titled "The Wild Life," says that before owning the shipbuilding business, he operated a machinery shop that made him a millionaire.
He sold the machinery business, took out the loan to buy the shipbuilding business, and defaulted on it. He was broke, then his wife died of lung cancer.
Mr. Rountree was caught three times after robbing banks, but in the GQ article he claims he robbed several more.
He said he kept it up not so much for revenge but because it became fun. Leaving a bank he'd just robbed, he'd get "a rush … just like I'd taken a shot of cocaine," he says in the GQ article.
According to court documents, First American teller Amy Pack told police in August that at first she had a hard time believing Mr. Rountree was serious. In her account she was handed two manila envelopes, with "robbery" scribbled on one of them.
She hesitated and Mr. Rountree said, "Hurry up or you will get hurt," though there was no gun in sight.
Ms. Pack replied, "You're kidding," but handed over the money to be on the safe side. Another employee made out Mr. Rountree's license plate number as he drove away, and he was pulled over by police shortly afterward.
First American spokesman George Lea said Tuesday that it would not comment further. Mr. Rountree will serve his sentence at the Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth, a special facility for elderly prisoners.
