A man with a history of bank robbery convictions dating back nine years and other criminal activity dating back even longer has pleaded guilty in federal court to robbing two Valley banks.

James Patrick Verdream Sr., who turned 57 on Wednesday, pleaded guilty to robbing the PNC Bank branch on Mahoning Avenue one year ago, and the Chase Bank in Liberty a week later.

 

 

 

Verdream, who is scheduled for sentencing in federal court on July 27, was also a suspect in the robbery of a bank in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania between the other two holdups..

The Chase teller reported that the suspect handed her a note saying he had a bomb and a gun, demanding $10,000. The suspect walked out with $1,000, according to a police report.

The following day police say Verdream was spotted at another bank.

Members of the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Austintown Police Department, chased Verdream to Route 11 in Austintown, eventually arresting him after a foot pursuit.

According to the FBI, on April 22, 2014, Verdream handed a note demanding money to a teller at the New Mexico Educators Federal Credit Union in Albuquerque then left the bank in a taxi cab.

 

Security Video from 2014 credit union robbery in New Mexico

 Verdream, who was arrested two weeks later near Phoenix, pleaded guilty later that year and in 2015 was sentenced to 46 months in prison and ordered to make restitution to the credit union.

The FBI says it had been looking for Verdream for violating the terms of his parole when he was arrested for robbing the Nusenda Credit Union on March 9, 2018, and the Rio Grande Credit Union on March 13, 2018.

According to a federal indictment, an accomplice drove Verdream to the Rio Grande Credit Union where he passed a demand note to a teller. Verdream took money from the teller, returned to the car, and fled.

Verdream pleaded guilty on December 27, 2018, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

 

James Patrick Verdream 2014

 After being released from prison this past November, Verdream moved to Northeast Ohio.

Verdream’s criminal record began before his bank robberies.

In 2009, Verdream plead guilty to multiple felony counts of fraud in New Mexico.

The year before, according to New Mexico court records, Verdream was convicted of fleeing police and being a habitual offender.

In 1997, Verdream was sentenced to one-and-a-half years in prison for passing bad checks in Mahoning and Trumbull counties.

Two years later, Verdream was sentenced to ten months in prison after being convicted of theft and misuse of credit cards in Trumbull County.

 

James Verdream 2021 booking photo Mahoning County