2016 bank camera image
UPDATED, March 8: A Chelsea man called the “Spelling Bee Bandit” after he misspelled the word “robbery” on a note passed to tellers was sentenced Wednesday, March 7, to seven years of prison and three years of supervised release.
Jason Englen, 34, pleaded guilty Nov. 15, in federal court to robbing four banks last year, including one in Arlington, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston and The Boston Globe reported.
Englen admitted in court to passing notes at four banks saying a robbery was in progress. He spelled it “robery” during the first robbery on Halloween 2016 at TD Bank in Arlington. Over the next few weeks, he used notes using that spelling or “robert” in Reading (TD Bank), Burlington (Salem Five) and Peabody (TD Bank), the U.S. Attorney’s office said in a statement.
Englen faces up to 20 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 28.
In the TD Bank in Arlington case, he handed the teller a note written on a deposit slip indicating a robbery and demanding cash. The teller gave Englen money from the drawer, a statement said.
Englen fled, but left behind his note, prosecutors said.
Over the next two weeks, Englen robbed TD Bank branches in Reading and Peabody and a Salem Five branch in Burlington “in the same fashion,” the statement said.
Englen was already in state custody on unrelated charges when he was identified as the suspect in all four cases and was arrested on Dec. 12, 2016, the statement said.
Chief Frederick Ryan said in a statement in 2016 that his department assisted the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force in an investigation that resulted in the arrest of the suspect in four bank robberies.
BostonGlobe.com reported the suspect allegedly made off with $965 in the Arlington robbery, $880 in Reading, $2,121 in Burlington and $2,380 in Peabody.
Dec. 13, 2016: Chelsea man charged in multiple bank robberies, including Arlington
BostonGlobe.com, Dec. 13, 2016: ‘Spelling Bee Bandit’ facing charges in four bank robberies
This news summary was published Thursday, Nov. 16, 2017, and updated with sentencing March 8, 2018.
