Man To Plead Guilty For North Dakota Bank Robberies

MINOT, N.D. (AP) — A California man working in the North Dakota oil patch says he will plead guilty to holding up banks in Stanley and Minot on the same day in August.

Gary Wayne Thomas, of Murrieta, California, is charged in federal court with two counts of bank robbery. Authorities say the 59-year-old Thomas robbed the BNC National Bank in Stanley shortly after 10 a.m. on Aug. 13, and the Dacotah Bank in Minot shortly after 3 p.m. the same day.

Court documents show that Thomas has a previous conviction for bank robbery in Arizona in 2007.

Thomas faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A plea agreement calls for him to pay back about $11,000.

A federal public defender could not be reached for comment.