An elderly man described as a serial bank robber has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for a 2023 bank robbery he committed while on supervised release from previous bank robbery convictions.
John Henry Stack, 76, of Myrtle Beach, was convicted of robbing the Anderson Brothers Bank in Aynor, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina said.
Stack walked into the bank wearing a blue medical scrub shirt over a black jacket, a winter hat, sunglasses, and a medical mask. He placed an empty pillowcase on the teller's counter, and concealed a long-handled lighter in his hand to make it look like a firearm, pointing it at the teller and demanding money.
The teller placed $2,130 in cash in the pillowcase, and Stack left the bank with the cash.
Authorities tracked Stack down after discovering the robber had left in a Ford Focus with significant passenger side damage. Stack had recently purchased the Focus.
The Myrtle Beach Police Department stopped the Focus and searched it. It had a hotel tag hanging from the rearview mirror. They found that he had booked the hotel room that day with cash.
They found clothing consistent with the clothes worn during the robbery, a long-handled lighter and a bag that contained Stack's medications along with $765 in cash in the hotel room.
Stack previously served time for multiple bank robberies across South Carolina and North Carolina.
"Stack's actions put innocent lives in harm's way," said Steve Jensen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Columbia Field Office. "This sentence reflects the weight of the crime and should serve as a reminder that such criminal behavior will be met by swift justice."
