Crime & Safety

'Mummy Bandit' Receives 63 Month Sentence After Robbing Valley Green Bank, Others

Hiram Joseph Adams sometimes wore bandages on his face and arms when committing the robberies.

A Mt. Airy man, dubbed  for his penchant for wearing bandages over his face and arms while robbing banks in the area, was sentenced to more than five years in prison Thursday.

Hiram Joseph Adams, 45, embarked on a string of robberies in July 2009, when he robbed the Wachovia Bank at 1700 Market St. in Center City and  at 7226 Germantown Ave. in Mt. Airy. He later robbed the Citizens Bank at 1000 Easton Road in Cheltenham Township in May 2010 and the Sovereign Bank at 800 E. Willow Grove Avenue in Springfield Township in June 2010. 

On May 28, Adams attempted a holdup at the Citizens Bank at 8616 Germantown Ave. in Chestnut Hill, but fled with no loot after the teller fainted during the holdup, according to court papers. The fainting spell happened after Adams said he possessed a bomb.

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An FBI news release said Adams, who had lived in Mt. Airy, was sentenced to 63 months in jail in connection with the crimes. The release also said U.S. District Court Judge Legrome D. Davis ordered Adams to pay total restitution to the five banks of $14,965 and to complete three years of supervised release.

Adams pleaded guilty in November to four counts of bank robbery and one count of attempted bank robbery, according to the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

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His crime spree came to an end this summer after a bank employee in Haverford Township observed Adams loitering in the area of the Alliance Bank at 500 Township Line Road in Haverford where she worked, according to the FBI criminal complaint, signed by Special Agent Matthew Kessler. Police were able to match Adams' profile with photos taken by a surveillance camera at a bank he had robbed.

He had been called the "Mummy Bandit" because of his bandaged get-up, though FBI Special Agent J.J. Klaver said he didn't wear them in all the robberies.


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