Man changes plea in bank robbery; judge imposes prison sentence

 A Charlemont man who robbed a bank in Northampton of $12,572.75 in February was sentenced to 6-7 years in state prison after pleading guilty in Hampshire Superior Court Friday.
David Jones Jr., 38, who had initially been charged with armed and masked robbery, changed his plea to guilty on a lesser charge of felony unarmed robbery before Hampshire Superior Court Judge Richard Carey.
Judge Carey adopted the sentence jointly recommended by Northwestern Assistant District Attorney Andrew Covington and defense attorney Aliki Recklitis from Committee for Public Counsel Services.
ADA Covington said the prison sentence in the case was warranted given Mr. Jones’ prior history with the criminal justice system, which includes a state prison sentence.
The crime occurred on Feb. 25, 2021 when Jones entered People’s United Bank at 43 King St. just before 11:30 a.m. giving the teller a note demanding money and saying: “…no silent alarm. I’m very familiar with the system don’t try nothing stupid.”
No gun was shown or recovered.
Jones fled the scene in a pickup truck and was caught an hour later in Charlemont with the money from the bank. He told police he was experiencing difficult financial times.
“This case is an example of great police work. The Northampton Police Department, with the assistance of the State Police, had the defendant in custody, the money from the bank recovered, and the case solved in a matter of hours,” said ADA Covington.