Source: US FBI
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Thursday sentenced a man who committed five bank robberies and one attempted robbery to 107 months in prison.
Derrick Snulligan, now 62, of Velda Village Hills, handed a note demanding money to the teller of a bank in Northwoods, Missouri on April 18, 2023. He returned to the same bank and did the same thing on Aug. 28, 2023. On Oct. 13, 2023, he tried a third time, but a teller activated an alarm and told Snulligan to leave. In each robbery, Snulligan was wearing a mask.
On June 24, 2024, his notes became more threatening. He handed a note to a Hazelwood credit union employee that read, “I[f] you don’t want to get hurt, go in your drawer and give me 6-one hundred dollar bills, 4-fifty dollar bills, 10-ten dollar bills, and 20-5 dollar bills as quickly as possible,” his plea agreement says. The teller handed cash to Snulligan, who fled.
Three days later, Snulligan handed a note to the teller of a St. Louis credit union demanding money. That same day, he committed a similar robbery at a Florissant credit union. His note read, “If you don’t want to get shot I suggest you go in your drawer and give me 30 one hundred dollar bill[s], 20 fifty dollar bills, 30, 20 dollar bills and 40, 10 dollar bills as quickly as possible.”
After the final two robberies, Snulligan fled in a blue Buick Encore. Investigators traced the vehicle to Snulligan, who admitted committing the robberies, and seized some of the stolen money from him. He repaid the rest of the money before sentencing.
“Derrick Snulligan terrorized bank employees who feared for their lives,” said Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division. “Today’s sentence delivers justice for the trauma he caused.”
Snulligan, who is also known as Derrick Jackson, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in March to five counts of bank robbery.
The FBI, the Florissant Police Department, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Northwoods Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul D’Agrosa
prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.