Christopher Antonio Gilmore, 34, has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for an armed bank robbery in Raleigh, North Carolina. The sentencing took place after a federal judge reviewed evidence and court records detailing the events of the robbery.
According to information presented during sentencing, Gilmore entered a First Citizen’s Bank in Raleigh while wearing sunglasses and a mask. He was armed with a loaded gun and fired a shot upon entering the bank. The bullet hit a cabinet outside the manager’s office. The manager was inside at the time but was unharmed because the cabinet stopped the bullet.
Gilmore pointed his gun at two bank tellers and demanded they fill his backpack with money. Over $20,000 was placed into the backpack along with a GPS tracker. After obtaining the cash, Gilmore ordered the tellers to lie down behind the counter and shouted, “Everybody get in the back! Heads down or I’ll start shooting again!” He also ordered the manager to join them on the floor. An additional employee, who had hidden in a breakroom, called 911 during this time.
Gilmore fled from the scene but was apprehended by officers from the Raleigh Police Department within minutes at a nearby tire shop. When arrested, officers recovered both the stolen firearm used in the robbery and the backpack containing cash as well as a high-capacity magazine.
Court documents show that Gilmore has prior felony convictions dating back over ten years. His criminal record includes attempted identity theft (2015), breaking and entering and larceny (2019), and multiple offenses from 2023 such as assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, discharging a weapon into an occupied property, and possession of a firearm by a felon.
Reid Davis, FBI Special Agent in Charge in North Carolina, stated: “The violent nature of Mr. Gilmore’s actions are reprehensible. To barge into a bank where people are conducting business or accessing their own hard-earned money and endanger their lives is ruthless, reckless, and justifies a long federal prison sentence.”
Ellis Boyle, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, announced the sentencing. The case was prosecuted by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Aubart along with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kimberly Dixon and Jaren Kelly. The investigation involved both the FBI’s Raleigh Durham Safe Streets Task Force and Raleigh Police Department.
