Jersey Shore bank robber gets his wish; sentenced to prison

WLLIAMSPORT, PA – The wheels of justice moved quickly in the arrest and prosecution of a Dauphin County man who admitted to a Sept. 6 robbery of the Jersey Shore State Bank on Main Street in Jersey Shore.

Robert A. Jones, 60, of Harrisburg, was in Lycoming County Court on Monday and entered a guilty plea to the robbery charge before Judge Ryan Tira. He told the Court he was a burden on his family and wished to remain incarcerated. Judge Tira imposed a 45-to-90-month sentence to state prison and ordered restitution of $2,000.

$5,000 had been taken in the heist, $3,000 of which was recovered at the time of his arrest.

Jones was residing at a halfway house at the time of the robbery and was taken into custody there a day after the incident. He had a history of bank robberies across the state.

At the Monday sentencing, Jones’ public defender counsel, Howard B. Gold, said “It’s an unfortunate situation. He prefers to spend the remaining years of his life in state prison.”

Jones had given a full confession to the robbery at the time of his arrest on Sept. 7.