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William Ray Wooten has been convicted of the robbing the same Gastonia bank branch he robbed at gunpoint 18 years earlier.
In December, Wooten robbed the Bank of America branch at 2950 Union Rd. in Gastonia, a federal jury found after a two-day trial that ended Wednesday. In 1992, he was convicted of robbing at gunpoint six banks, including the 1990 robbery of what was then a North Carolina National Bank at the same address, acting U.S. Attorney Edward Ryan said today.
After serving a 16-year prison sentence, Wooten had been out less than a month on Dec. 9 when he walked into the bank branch with a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun and robbed the Gastonia branch. He forced the bank manager outside and drove off in her car.
He fled the state, and authorities caught him in Colorado the next day. Officers searched his motel room and found the clothes Wooten wore to the bank and the briefcase he used during the hold-up, Ryan said. They also found money linked to the bank in the briefcase, and the loaded shotgun.
Chief U.S. District Judge Robert Conrad will sentence Wooten at a later date. Until then, he's being held in the custody of the U.S. Marshal's Service. He faces 52 to 58 years in prison, according to federal sentencing guidelines.
