Michigan Man Pleads Guilt to 24 Bank Robberies in 11 States

Aug. 23, 2006
Across the midwest, Rodger Heaton target banks; case broken by dye-stained money

The U.S. Department of Justice's Federal Bureau of Investigation Springfield Field Office issued the following press release:

Rodger A. Heaton, United States Attorney for the Central District of Illinois, announced that a Holland, Michigan man pled guilty today to robbing 24 banks in 11 states. Clifton Bruce Davidson, Jr., age 41, a former Indiana police officer and lawyer, pled guilty to three counts of aggravated bank robbery, 21 counts of bank robbery, and one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. In federal court in Rock Island, Illinois, Davidson admitted he robbed three banks in Illinois, two in Ohio, three in Kentucky, two in Tennessee, one in Indiana, three in Missouri, two in Maryland, four in Michigan, two in Wisconsin, one in Iowa and one in Connecticut, from November 2003 to November 18, 2005. Sentencing is scheduled for November 17, 2006.

According to court documents, following the robbery of a National City Bank in Moline, Illinois on June 16, 2005, a bank customer followed Davidson out of the bank, recorded the license plate number of Davidson's vehicle, and reported it to police. Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation subsequently executed a search warrant at Davidson's Holland, Michigan home and found two manila envelopes with bank robbery demand notes written on them. One of the envelopes was dye-stained and contained approximately $3,132 in dye-stained currency and a spent dye pack. Agents also found several firearms and ammunition and additional dye-stained currency.

During his court appearance before U.S. District Judge Michael M. Mihm, Davidson admitted he spent the next seven months traveling throughout the U.S., attempting to evade authorities and financing his life on the run by robbing banks and businesses. He was arrested outside his hotel room in Phoenix, Arizona on January 31, 2006. In the hotel room, police found a loaded .357 magnum revolver, a bank robbery demand note written on a manila envelope, false identification documents, and a handwritten note listing several cities where he had committed bank robberies along with approximate amounts of money taken.

U.S. Attorney Heaton stated, "We expect that Mr. Davidson's guilty pleas to such an extended string of armed robberies will inevitably result in his spending a significant part of his life in federal prison. I commend the cooperative efforts of the numerous police departments, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Attorney's offices to resolve these cases."

Davidson admitted he committed the following robberies:

Table omitted (The document can be viewed at )

numerous state and local police departments. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John K. Mehochko in the Central District of Illinois with the cooperation of the 15 U.S. Attorney's Offices in the federal judicial districts in which the crimes occurred.

For the offenses of aggravated bank robbery, each count is punishable by a maximum 25 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. For brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, the statutory penalty is a minimum seven years in prison to life in prison, which must be served consecutive to any other sentence imposed. The maximum statutory penalty for each bank robbery count is 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.