An elderly serial bank robber has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for a 2023 bank robbery he committed while on supervised release from previous bank robbery convictions, officials said Monday.
John Henry Stack, 76, of Myrtle Beach, was sentenced to 120 months in prison following his conviction in a two-day jury trial of robbing the Anderson Brothers Bank in Aynor on March 10, 2023, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina said Monday, June 24.
Stack walked into the bank wearing a blue medical scrub shirt over a black jacket, a winter hat, sunglasses, and a medical mask. He placed an empty pillowcase on the teller's counter, and concealed a long-handled lighter in his hand to make it look like a firearm, pointing it at the teller and demanding money.
The teller placed $2,130 in cash in the pillowcase, and Stack left the bank with the cash.
Investigators learned the bank robber left the scene in a recently purchased Ford Focus with significant passenger side damage.
At around 10 p.m. on March 10, the night of the robbery, a Myrtle Beach Police Department stopped the Focus driven by Stack. Officers searched the vehicle, which had a hotel tag hanging from the rearview mirror, as well as the hotel room he had booked that day by paying cash.
The searches revealed clothing consistent with the clothes worn during the robbery, a long-handled lighter, and a bag that contained Stack's medications along with $765 in cash.
Stack confessed to law enforcement that he had robbed the bank, and described using the lighter to "fake out" the teller.
Officials said Stack previously served time for multiple bank robberies across South Carolina and North Carolina.
“Even after a significant sentence for the same crime, Mr. Stack continued to threaten the safety of the community by committing another bank robbery,” Adair F. Boroughs, U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina, said in a statement. “We commend the work of Aynor and Myrtle Beach Police Departments in responding to this incident and the assistance of SLED and the FBI Columbia Field Office to bring this defendant to justice.”
“Stack’s actions put innocent lives in harm’s way,” said Steve Jensen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Columbia Field Office. “This sentence reflects the weight of the crime and should serve as a reminder that such criminal behavior will be met by swift justice. The FBI, along with our local, state, and federal partners, reaffirm our commitment to maintaining public safety and upholding the rule of law.”
—TMX contributed to this post.