A Massachusetts man will spend nearly 10 years in prison for robbing a Bangor Savings Bank branch in York in 2021.
U.S. District Court Judge John Woodcock on Thursday sentenced Brandon Simmons, 35, to 9 1/2 years in prison, along with three years of supervised release, and ordered him to pay $7,162 in restitution, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Simmons entered the Bangor Savings Bank branch on Route 1 in York on Nov. 1, 2021. He told a teller he had a bomb before demanding money. He grabbed the cash from the teller’s drawer and fled the bank in a white work van, according to the U.S. attorney.
Simmons also was a suspect in the robbery of a CVS Pharmacy a couple days earlier in Newburyport, Massachusetts.
Over the course of Nov. 1 to 3, 2021, Simmons led police on a series of high-speed chases in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, during which the U.S. attorney said he assaulted a police officer, attempted to carjack a bystander, stole multiple vehicles and crashed his van into a truck.
Simmons was eventually arrested on Nov. 3 after a struggle with police at a hotel in Peabody, Massachusetts.
Simmons changed his plea in the York bank robbery from not guilty to guilty on Sept. 22, 2022. He pleaded guilty Wednesday to the Newburyport pharmacy robbery and other charges stemming from his attempts to evade police in Massachusetts.