Man who robbed Upper Merion bank sent to federal prison
“The simple fact is that Edmondson is a danger to the community.” - First Assistant U. S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams
PHILADELPHIA » A serial bank robber faces more than six years in a federal prison in connection with four holdups, including one at a bank in King of Prussia.
Michael Edmondson, 53, of Philadelphia, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 78 months in prison, to be followed by three years’ supervised release, in connection with the robbery spree that occurred between February and March 2019 in Montgomery, Delaware, and Bucks counties and Philadelphia.
U. S. District Court Judge Mitchell S. Goldberg also ordered Edmondson to pay more than $6,700 in restitution.
In September 2019, Edmondson pleaded guilty to charges in connection with an indictment that charged him with four counts of bank robbery.
“The defendant, now in his fifties, has a decades-long history of run-ins with the law,” First Assistant U. S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams said this week. “The simple fact is that Edmondson is a danger to the community. He has proven that, when given the opportunity, he will revert to threatening the safety of others and himself.
“The streets of Philadelphia and the surrounding counties are safer with the defendant behind bars once again,” Williams added.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Jayne.
The charges arose from Edmondson’s crime spree that targeted the Wells Fargo Bank in Trevose on Feb. 19; the Citizens Bank in Havertown’s Giant Foods on Feb. 24; the Wells Fargo Bank in King of Prussia on Feb. 27; and the Santander Bank on Market Street in Philadelphia on March 6.
During all four incidents, Edmondson threatened to shoot himself and other people if the bank employees did not hand him cash, according to federal prosecutors.
With the charges, authorities alleged Edmondson stole a total of $7,958 from the four banks, committing the offenses shortly af ter absconding from a halfway house where he was living while on state parole.
“At each stop on Michael Edmondson’s bank robbery spree, he told tellers he had a gun and was about to start shooting,” said Michael J. Driscoll, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “Taking those who terrorize the community off the street is a priority for the FBI and our law enforcement partners, as we work together to crack down on violent crime and keep the public safe.”
Police from Upper Merion, Bensalem, Haverford and Philadelphia assisted the FBI in the investigation.