A Macon thug couldn't resist going back to his old habits and has been convicted once again, this time for knocking off a local Truist Bank while he was already under the thumb of federal supervision from previous crimes. Gabriel Bell, 29, a known felon with a rap sheet including armed robbery and firearms charges, faced his day in court and was found guilty on March 12, following a trial that kicked off on March 11, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia.
During the trial, evidence showcased Bell's bold mid-afternoon heist on Feb. 16, 2023, where he terrorized bank employees by threatening to shoot them unless they complied with his demands. “Gabriel Bell terrorized Truist employees when he entered the bank and demanded money while threatening to shoot them,” U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary said, “People should be safe to conduct their everyday business without fear, or intimidation; sending Bell back to federal prison will further that goal.”
Bell, no stranger to the inside of a cell, could be looking at up to 20 years to reflect on his repeat offenses, now that the jury delivered their guilty verdict for the bank robbery. Chief Judge Marc Treadwell, who presided over the case, will set the date for when Bell will learn how long he'll be out of circulation this time around.
The prosecution's case packed a punch with solid evidence, including surveillance footage, eyewitness accounts from shaken tellers who described seeing Bell flash a gun-like object, and crucial tips from the public that helped collar the repeat offender. In this blatant disregard for the law and public safety, no actual weapon was recovered after Bell fled the scene with the stolen cash. "Bell’s prior prison time was apparently not enough for him because he returned to his robbing ways while he was still on supervised release for the last crime he committed," FBI Supervisory Senior Resident Agent Robert Gibbs stated, "Thanks to the assistance of our partners with the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office, he’ll have up to 20 years in federal prison to think about what he’ll do the next time he is released from prison.”
Law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office, collaborated to put the pieces of the case together, employing technology and community assistance to bring Bell to justice. Sheriff David J. Davis expressed gratitude for the public's aid, saying, "We want to thank those tipsters who gave information identifying Gabriel Bell as the robber." The teamwork between the agencies, and Bell’s own damning fingerprint on the demand note left at the scene helped secure the guilty verdict in this latest chapter of Bell’s ongoing saga with the law.
