Career criminal admits to series of Rhode Island bank robberies
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — A career criminal from Providence admitted to a series of bank robberies in 2021.
United States Attorney Zachary Cunha said 47-year-old Vaughn Watrous pleaded guilty Wednesday to four counts of bank robbery stemming from multiple incidents over three days in January 2021.
Watrous admitted to a federal judge that from Jan. 19 to Jan. 21 he robbed three banks in Providence and Cranston and attempted to rob a fourth in North Providence.
He was arrested in Providence on Jan. 24 after an investigation by Cranston police.
Court records show that Watrous was previously convicted of seven bank robberies in 1997, 2003, and 2013.
He was sentenced to over four years in prison in 1997 for robbing a bank in Utah and then convicted in Providence on two counts of bank robbery in 2003 and four counts in 2015, accruing around 14 years in total prison time.
He was released from federal prison on Feb. 25, 2020.
Cunha said the sentence for Watrous’s latest robberies will be determined at a future date after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
