New Jersey Man Admits Robberies from Marathon to North Carolina

A New Jersey man is accused of robbing a Cortland County antique store in November of 2013 and now has admitted to a spree of bank and business holdups in four states.

41 year old Francis Simmons of Warren, New Jersey pleaded guilty to 16 counts of felony robbery.  He faces up to 20 years in prison for each count.

Cortland County Sheriff’s officials responded to a report of an armed robbery at River Bend Antiques on Route 11 in the Village of Marathon on November 8, 2013.

Authorities say a white man entered the store at around noon and spent some time in the business before showing a dark handgun and demanding the jewelry.

Leads took police to another robbery at an antique store in a small town near Milton, Pennsylvania.

A bank robbery in Lancaster, Pennsylvania was tied to the Marathon robbery and another bank robbery was reported in November 2014 in Hagerstown, Maryland.

Investigators say interviews with Simmons showed he committed the River Bend heist and bank robberies in Lewisburg, Fogelsville, Dillsburg, Allentown, Wyomissing, Lancaster, Columbia, Hellertown, and Hanover, Pennsylvania, Hagerstown, Maryland and Asheboro, North Carolina between November 3, 2013 and November 29, 2014.

As part of an agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Simmons will not be charged on a local level.

In all, Simmons was charged with 14 bank robberies and 2 business robberies.

A sentencing date has not been set.