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Jan. 28 (UPI) — A North Carolina man pleaded guilty to walking away from a blackjack table, robbing a bank, and returning to the casino to gamble his ill-gotten gains.
Kerry Johnson, 52, told Kanawha Circuit Judge Duke Bloom in court Wednesday that he was under the influence of drugs when he left the Mardi Gras Casino in Nitro and robbed the City National Bank in Charleston on Aug. 2.
“I walked into the bank and I handed them a note. The bank that I had banked with for 40 years. I handed them a note and was given the money and it was less money than I had in my account,” Johnson told the judge.
The note claimed Johnson was armed with a gun and a bomb. He left the bank with about $5,000, investigators said.
Johnson said “most of the day was a blur,” and he didn’t have clear memories of the incident, but he “knew it was me” when he viewed security camera footage from the bank.
Prosecutors said Johnson returned to the casino, where he lost about $500 of the stolen money at the blackjack table.
He was arrested at his home, where police found more of the stolen cash.
Johnson pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery as part of a deal to have prosecutors drop a felony robbery charge. He faces 5-18 years in prison at his March 2 sentencing.
