A Brink's armored transport service employee has been accused of stealing $196,000 worth of quarters.
Stephen Lancaster Dennis of Harpersville, Alabama, agreed to
plead guilty of bank theft, CNN reported.
The theft occurred in early 2014, when Dennis, 49, worked as a money processing manager for Brink’s at its Birmingham branch.
“What Mr. Dennis may have thought was a nickel and dime theft was, in the end, the equivalent of a major bank heist,”
FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton said in a statement. “Now, he will be a convicted felon who must repay all the stolen money.”
The quarters, belonging to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, were stored in ballistic bags, each containing $50,000. An April 2014 inventory audit revealed that four of the bags contained beads and only $1,000 worth of quarters positioned to be visible through plastic windows in the bags, the statement said.
“This defendant may have thought he had quite a haul when he took nearly $200,000 in quarters from the Federal Reserve’s coin storage at Brink’s, but now he carries a heavier load. He must repay the money and face a federal sentence,” U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance said in the statement.
Dennis faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
CNN made light of the coin theft, saying: “It's unclear if Dennis was possessed by some dark predilection for Pac-Man or vending machines.”
Twitter users were amused by the story.