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Plea Deal for Serial Bank Robber

SCRANTON — A man the FBI calls a serial bank robber has reached a plea deal in federal court and will not go to trial. William Fischer, 42, of Dunmore, is...

SCRANTON -- A man the FBI calls a serial bank robber has reached a plea deal in federal court and will not go to trial.

William Fischer, 42, of Dunmore, is charged with robbing 14 banks in four counties in a 20-month period.

During his 20-month robbery spree, the FBI claims Fischer stole more than $200,000 dollars from area bank branches.

Restitution and jail time will likely be part of his sentence which is still to be determined.

From December 2015 to September of this year, tellers at area banks were threatened by a hard-to-identify man who covered his face and head with a dark hat and hood toting a bag and appearing to wear a protective vest.

The FBI called him violent and dangerous after his tenth holdup, which came in January.

"I don't know how many customers or employees were in those ten banks at the time, but let's say there were ten in each bank. There are now 100 victims of violent crime based just upon this one person," said FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Quinn in January of 2017.

The spree finally came to a close in September when state police in Wayne County caught Fischer nine miles from the People's Security Bank and Trust branch in Gouldsboro after it was held up that morning.

This week, court papers show Fischer's case moved from state to federal court, where he was formally charged with all 14 robberies.

Now he's reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors. All the terms of the deal have not been announced but

These court papers show Fischer has agreed to forfeit his house in Dunmore and will he face a minimum of five years in prison.

The last serial bank robber in our area to face a judge was Timothy Fenster of Luzerne County. He pleaded guilty last year to robbing five banks in 2014 and 2015 and was sentenced to seven and a half years in federal prison.

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