Man gave his gun to 16-year-old before sending him into a Pineville Wells Fargo

Michael Pringle Jr. handed a gun to the 16-year-old boy in his car and told him what to say when he got inside a Pineville Wells Fargo.

“Put $20,000 in this bag right now,” the teen told a teller while showing the gun on May 2, 2024.

With more than $18,000 in tow, Pringle, 32, and the teen sped off from the bank, which sat across from the Olive Garden on Pineville-Matthews Road, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina. The two were arrested after officers stopped the car and found a Glock 43 handgun and cash “scattered throughout” the back seats.

Pringle was sentenced Wednesday to seven years in prison and three years supervised released for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and aiding and abetting.

Julia Coin

The Charlotte Observer

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Julia Coin covers courts, legal issues, police and public safety around Charlotte and is part of the Pulitzer-finalist team that covered Tropical Storm Helene in North Carolina. As the Observer’s breaking news reporter, she unveiled how fentanyl infiltrated local schools. Michigan-born and Florida-raised, she studied journalism at the University of Florida, where she covered statewide legislation, sexual assault on campus and Hurricane Ian in her hometown of Sanibel Island. Support my work with a digital subscription