A man whose fingerprints were found on a handwritten note that demanded money from a Roanoke bank pleaded guilty Wednesday to robbery.
Demonte J. Belcher, 23, of Vinton, will be sentenced later in U.S. District Court in Roanoke on a charge that carries a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison.
On the morning of June 22, 2023, two men wearing ski masks, black clothing and gloves entered the Carter Bank & Trust branch on Hershberger Road Northwest.
A teller was handed a note that read: “Let’s make everything right. You have least [sic] than 30 seconds to give me $50K or die. Got nothing to lose,” according to a summary of the evidence presented in court.
The robbers then fled with $8,659 in cash that was stuffed into a green plastic bag and a zippered bank bag.
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After fingerprints on the left-behind note were traced to Belcher, police obtained a search warrant for his home. They found money from the bank — identified in part by six $2 bills that had been placed in the bags during the robbery.
As part of a plea agreement negotiated by Assistant U.S. Attorney Coleman Adams and defense attorney Correy Diviney, the government will ask for a sentence at the low end of advisory guidelines, which have yet to be calculated.
Belcher, who pleaded guilty to robbery as an aider and abettor, will have a second charge dropped under the agreement.
A second man charged in the case, Ramel L. Abrams of Roanoke, is scheduled to go on trial starting June 24. Abrams has a possible alibi defense, according to court records.