Evergreen Reporter

A Cranston man known as the "Bearded Bandit" has been sentenced to time served for a bank robbery on New Year's Eve in 2019. Justin Worley, who previously spent over six years in federal prison for robbing nine banks in 2012, received his sentence on Friday from U.S. District Court Senior Judge William E. Smith. The sentencing includes a term of three years of supervised release, with the first six months to be spent in a residential reentry center. Worley is also required to pay $11,569 in restitution.

Worley pleaded guilty on October 30, 2024, to charges of conspiracy to commit bank robbery and bank robbery and has been detained since his arrest on January 21, 2020. In court, he admitted that he and co-defendant Nicholas Lage demanded money from tellers at an East Providence bank branch on New Year's Eve Day in December 2019. During the incident, Lage brandished a knife, and the two men fled with approximately $11,569 before being arrested later that evening at Twin River casino.

The court found that Worley violated the terms of his federal supervised release related to his previous convictions for robbing nine banks in 2012.

Nicholas Lage pleaded guilty on April 1, 2021, to similar charges and was sentenced on August 6, 2021, to 36 months of incarceration followed by three years of federal supervised release.

Assistant United States Attorney Ronald R. Gendron prosecuted the cases. The investigation was conducted by the East Providence Police Department and the FBI.