Mt. Vernon Register-News

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March 15, 2010

Kroger bandit pleads guilty in N.C.

By TESA CULLI

tesa.culli@register-news.com

GREENEVILLE, N.C. — The man who robbed the Mt. Vernon Kroger store in September 2009 as well as 14 banks in six states has pleaded guilty in federal court.

Chad E. Schaffner, 38, was wanted on a multi-state bank robbery spree when he robbed the Kroger store at gunpoint on Sept. 4, 2009. A few days later, Schaffner robbed the UMB Bank in Caseyville, and was finally arrested by police without incident on Sept. 14, 2009 at a motel in Kingdom City, Mo.

Schaffner was identified as the man who robbed Kroger through surveillance tapes, and local police also identified his get-away car as the one he used in the Caseyville UMB Bank robbery as well as others. Schaffner was on the FBI Most Wanted list for several weeks, and featured on “America’s Most Wanted,” which led to him being spotted by a former Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper in Kingdom City, Mo.

Schaffner was charged in federal court with the Kroger robbery and with robbing banks in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

The charges from each state were transferred to North Carolina, and Schaffner has admitted to robbing the banks and the Kroger store. He entered guilty pleas to the bank robberies in Fletcher, N.C.; Hendersonville, N.C.; Forest Acres, S.C.; Mt. Pleasant, S.C; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Jefferson City, Tenn.; and Morristown, Tenn.

According to the plea agreements, Schaffner said he started robbing banks as a way to support his drug addiction.

Schaffner’s sentencing has not been scheduled, but the U.S. Attorney is asking for maximum sentences on all counts, and has petitioned the court to consider enhanced sentences based on prior crimes and his use of a firearm to commit the robberies.

If the court determines enhancement appropriate, Schaffner would have a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

If the court does not find enhancement appropriate, Schaffner faces a maximum of 25 years maximum sentence per charge and five years’ mandatory supervised release.

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