Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 5, 1991 TAG: 9103050164
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Thomas William Robinson, 36, had been out on parole just three months when federal and state authorities arrested him and two others in Lynchburg on Friday in connection with a string of bank robberies that began Jan. 25. Robinson was serving five life sentences, most recently in Mecklenburg Correctional Center.
Robinson; his wife, Tina Marie O'Meara; and friend Jerry Lee Brewer now face federal charges of conspiring to commit bank robbery. So far, the only substantive charge is that of conspiring to rob the CorEast Federal Savings Bank off Virginia 419 in Southwest Roanoke County, Assistant U.S. Attorney Morgan Scott said.
"This is such frivolous garbage," Robinson told U.S. Magistrate Glen Conrad on Monday after scanning a copy of an affidavit that detailed the trio's alleged activities. "I don't want to have anything more to do with these court proceedings," he said, temporarily halting an initial appearance hearing in Roanoke.
Robinson, O'Meara and Brewer each requested that the court appoint them attorneys and refused to go forward with the hearing without legal representation. Another hearing has been scheduled for today.
"Everything I have read is a lie," O'Meara said after reviewing the affidavit. "Out of the two pages I've read, I don't see anything that's true."
From Jan. 25 to Feb. 25, six bank robberies were reported in Roanoke, Lynchburg and Bedford. A combined total of approximately $40,000 was taken, according to the affidavit.
Two confidential informants told authorities that Robinson, of Pawleys Island, S.C., and Brewer, of Lynchburg, were responsible for the recent series of bank robberies, according to the affidavit.
One informant said Robinson, whom he referred to as "Tom," and Brewer, whom he called "Chief," said Lynchburg had become "real warm" because of the robberies they had been committing, the affidavit stated. They allegedly told the informant that they were planning to rob a bank in Greensboro, N.C., last Friday morning.
On Friday, FBI agents in Greensboro reported that the Piedmont State Bank was robbed of approximately $9,600 at 9:35 a.m. by two white males, according to the affidavit. The Greensboro FBI agents gave descriptions of the two men.
As Robinson and Brewer drove into the parking lot of Brewer's apartment complex in a red Chevrolet Corvette on Friday afternoon, two law enforcement officials arrested them, according to the affidavit. Authorities also spotted a woman, who later was identified as O'Meara, pulling into the parking lot in a car bearing temporary South Carolina license plates.
O'Meara told authorities she had stopped at the apartment complex to see Robinson and Brewer, according to the affidavit.
Looking through the open doorway of Brewer's apartment, authorities spotted a stack of U.S. currency approximately 10 inches high sitting on a nightstand, according to the affidavit. An apartment resident told authorities that Brewer didn't have a lot of money during the Christmas season but that sometime in January, Brewer suddenly had a large amount of money, the affidavit stated.
Brewer told the resident that Robinson had given him some money, some new clothing and some stereo equipment and that he had been working with Robinson in South Carolina, according to the affidavit.
At O'Meara's Salem residence, authorities saw a letter that had been recovered from some trash that was addressed to her from Robinson. In the letter he wrote to O'Meara to "stay in touch with Chief, too, baby, because we'll work these petty problems out soon. Have patience with me because when the dust settles I want us bonded together and strong. I want you to keep the apartment in Salem and keep a low profile," according to the affidavit.
Two vehicles, both registered in O'Meara's name, were purchased with cash on Feb. 20 and 22 - a Corvette for $7,300 and a Bronco for $6,695, according to the affidavit.
Neither Robinson nor Brewer, 35, is employed, though Robinson said Monday that when he was arrested he had $900 in his pocket. O'Meara, 33, said she had no regular income except through prostitution.
Robinson is a three-time escapee from state and local jails.
O'Meara's foiled attempt to smuggle a weapon to Robinson at the Bland Correctional Unit in the mid-1970s brought her two years in state prison.
Brewer was convicted in 1975 of raping, sodomizing and robbing two women. He was 17 years old when he was arrested, 18 when he was convicted.
Brewer escaped from a maximum security section of Southwestern State Hospital in Marion while awaiting trial on the charges.
by CNB