The United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that James Bristol, 44, of Burlington, pleaded not guilty yesterday in United States District Court in Burlington to a charge of attempted bank robbery. U.S. Magistrate Judge John M. Conroy ordered that Bristol be detained pending trial, which has not been scheduled.
According to court records, on June 3, 2016, a man entered the College Street branch of Citizens Bank in Burlington and presented the teller with a note which stated that he had a gun and wanted large denomination bills. The teller told the robber she did not have large bills, only $20s, whereupon the robber took back the note and left the bank without taking any money. Less than an hour later, Burlington Police officers detained Bristol several blocks from the scene of the robbery. They later found that the demand note was in Bristol’s pocket. Bristol was originally charged in state court with attempted assault and robbery, but that charge was dismissed after a federal grand jury indicted Bristol for attempted bank robbery last week.
The United States Attorney emphasizes that the charge in the indictment is merely an accusation and that the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty.
If convicted, Bristol faces up to 20 years of imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000. The actual sentence would be determined with reference to federal sentencing guidelines.
Allen is represented by the office of the Federal Public Defender. The prosecutor is Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Waples.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
