BALTIMORE– A 60-year-old Ocean City man was sentenced to eight years in federal prison on Tuesday for robbing a bank in the Maryland resort town.
Tyrone D. Pierce was also sentenced by U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake Tuesday to five years of supervised release after completing his prison term for brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, specifically, a bank robbery.
According to his plea agreement, on Aug. 24, 2016, Pierce, who was then employed at a motel in Ocean City, robbed a bank in the 12000 block of Coastal Highway.
Pierce parked a vehicle in a commercial parking lot near the bank. Pierce, who was clearly wearing a fake beard, was seen by motorists and pedestrians as he walked a circuitous route to the entrance of the bank.
After entering the bank, Pierce pulled out a semi-automatic handgun and pointed it at one of the tellers, threatening to shoot the teller if she did not comply with Pierce’s demands for money. Pierce also said there was a bomb near the drive-thru window, although no device was found.
Pierce took cash and left the bank, inadvertently leaving a glove on the teller counter that he removed during the robbery.
Crime scene investigators recovered the glove and were able to obtain a DNA specimen. In January 2017, DNA analysis of the specimen was matched to Pierce, who has a 1999 conviction for bank robbery in Salisbury, Maryland, and had previously submitted a DNA sample.
As part of Pierce’s sentence, Judge Blake ordered that Pierce pay restitution of $9,169.
