Serial bank robber sentenced

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) -- A serial bank robber has been sentenced to 12 and a half years in federal prison.

Thomas J. Flannery, 37, of Sunnyvale, CA, was sentenced for the February 2011 robbery of a Pawtucket Credit Union branch office.

Flannery pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery in May.

He was previously convicted and imprisoned for committing six bank robberies between October 2004 and February 2005 in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. He was wanted for a spree of 2011 bank robberies in Massachusetts at the time of his arrest.

In court, Flannery admitted that he handed a note to a teller at the Pawtucket Credit Union branch that read, "No alarms, no dye packs, no trouble, fast and quiet, 50's, 100's, 20's, loose bills, no big bands."

He demanded more money from the teller but was unable to get it. He fled the scene with $1,224.

Flannery was arrested after his return to his hotel and has been detained since his arrest.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation assisted the Pawtucket Police with this robbery investigation.