Plea reached in bank robberies
Former KU student admits to 2 holdups: 1 in city, 1 in Ohio
A former Kansas University student-turned-bank robber has reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors and will be sentenced in November.
Jeffrey R. Cox, 22, admitted to two bank robberies in a plea agreement earlier this month, according to U.S. District Court records. One of the counts is from a Lawrence robbery; the other is from a previous robbery in Ohio, Cox’s home state, officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Wichita said.
Cox will appear Nov. 29 in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, armed bank robbery carries a penalty of up to 25 years.
Cox’s court-appointed attorney, Thomas Telthorst, of Kansas City, Kan., declined to talk about specifics of the case, such as what kind of arguments he would make at sentencing or whether Cox’s case would be affected by a controversy about federal sentencing guidelines.
Cox, a former McCollum Hall resident, was arrested in December by FBI agents in Atlanta. The arrest came days after a surveillance camera captured a clear image of his face in a Lawrence armed robbery on Dec. 10, 2003, at University National Bank, 1400 Kasold Drive.
Cox also was charged with robbing two other Lawrence banks, Central National Bank, 711 Wakarusa Drive, on Feb. 2, 2003, and Douglas County Bank, 711 W. 23rd St., on June 9, 2003.
It could not be determined which Lawrence robberies Cox admitted to.
In the robberies at Central National Bank and Douglas County Bank, the suspect brandished a gun at employees, then told them to “Have a nice day” or “Have a good day” as he walked out the door, according to an affidavit. In the third robbery, he fired a gunshot over employees’ heads.
The Ohio bank robbery charge, originally filed in U.S. District Court in Cleveland, was transferred to the Kansas district in August. The date of the Ohio robbery Cox admitted to could not be determined Friday.
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