- April 30, 2024
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A man convicted of robbing a local Bank of America and a string of other banks in Northeast Florida has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Kevin Lee Cotterman, 42, pleaded no contest to the charges against him in January, said Klare Ly, spokeswoman Seventh Judicial Circuit State Attorney R.J. Larizza. Cotterman tried to withdraw his plea on Oct. 8, but his request was denied by a judge.
Because Cotterman is a re-offender, he must serve each day of his 15-year sentence, Ly said in an email to the Palm Coast Observer.
According to police reports, a man — later identified as Cotterman — entered the Bank of American at 4850 Belle Terre Parkway on May 17, 2012, and handed the teller a note. It said: “Put all the money in your top drawer in an envelope, I have a gun.”
The teller did, and the man disappeared — but not for long.
At 2:15 p.m. May 23, 2012, he entered a Regions Bank in St. Augustine. This time, the letter he handed the teller said, “Start with the hundreds first.” The teller gave him an envelope of money. Less than half an hour later, at about 2:40 p.m., he showed up five miles away at a Compass Bank in Jacksonville. This time, the letter said “You can start with the hundreds and put everything in the envelope.” The teller put $4,740 in the envelope, and the robber left.
He took a few weeks off, then entered a Sun Trust bank in DeLand at about 4:02 p.m. June 12 with another note for the teller: “Put all your money in an envelope, begin with the $100’s first." But this time, the teller refused, and the robber left.
Two minutes later and less than a mile away, he tried his luck at a TD Bank, brandishing the same note. Again, the teller refused and the robber left empty-handed.
The next day, he held up a FL Regions Bank in Winter Garden and made off with $4,862.
Police know the robberies were committed by the same man because he appeared in the bank surveillance videos wearing the same outfit in each: a white T-shirt with a skull logo, camouflage cargo shorts, a blue hat, black sunglasses and flip flops.
An anonymous Crime Stoppers tipster on June 11, 2012, said Kevin Cotterman was the man who tried to rob the two banks in DeLand, identifying him from the surveillance video. Cotterman’s car, a black Dodge quad cab, also matched the one seen in surveillance footage.
