Riverside Man Admits Robbing Willingboro Bank at Gunpoint

CAMDEN—A Riverside man pleaded guilty today for his role in an armed robbery of a Willingboro bank, Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph J. Marra, Jr., announced.

Shane Littles, 23, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman to a one-count Information that charges him with the March 10, 2009, robbery of a Beneficial Savings Bank branch on Beverly-Rancocas Road in Willingboro. Judge Hillman scheduled sentencing for Sept. 11.

Littles has been held in state custody on pending state charges since his arrest on March 19, 2008, by Police Officers with the Riverside Police Department. The case against Littles and his co-defendant, Ashley Marshall, 19, who lived with Littles, was adopted for federal prosecution on April 16, 2009.

At his plea hearing, Littles admitted that at approximately at 1:45 p.m., on the date of the bank robbery, he and Marshall drove to the area of the bank and parked on a residential street behind the bank. Littles and Marshall then walked through a small wooded area and entered the bank, he admitted. Littles admitted that he entered the bank with a BB gun, which resembled a semi-automatic handgun, and approached the teller counter, while Marshall remained at the door and acted as a look-out.

Littles demanded money from a teller, who then handed him a bag containing approximately $4,496, he admitted. After getting the money, Littles and Marshall fled the bank and were running back to their car when a dye pack exploded causing Littles to drop the bag containing most of the stolen money, he admitted.

Littles admitted that he and Marshall then drove back to their residence and counted the remaining money not left behind, which totaled approximately $300. Afterwards, the two defendants went to a Laundromat in Riverside and put the dye stained money through a change machine and received $300 in quarters, Littles admitted. They then went to a Beneficial Savings Bank branch in Riverside and exchanged the $300 in quarters for $300 in bills. Littles admitted that they then took the $300 to a car rental facility in order to make a rental payment on his vehicle.

Marshall was also arrested arrest by local authorities on March 19, 2008. Her case is pending in federal court.

The charge of bank robbery carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the aggregate loss to the victims or gain to the defendants. In determining an actual sentence, Judge Hillman will consult the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges that take into account the severity and characteristics of the offense, the defendant's criminal history, if any, and other factors. The judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in determining a sentence.

Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all that time.

Marra credited Special Agents of the FBI’s Trenton Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Weysan Dun, Investigators with the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Robert D. Bernardi, and Police Officers with the Police Departments of Riverside, Delran and Willingboro, with the investigation leading to the guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason M. Richardson of the Criminal Division in Camden.

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