The United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that James Bristol, 45, of Burlington, was sentenced today in United States District Court in Burlington to 30 months of imprisonment following his guilty plea to a charge of attempted bank robbery. Chief U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss also ordered that Bristol serve a three-year term of supervised release following completion of his prison term. Bristol has been in custody since his arrest last year.
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 receiving any money. Less than an hour later, Burlington Police officers detained Bristol several blocks from the scene of the robbery. They later found the demand note 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 fall.
Bristol is represented by Assistant Federal Public Defender Steven Barth. The prosecutor is Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Waples.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
