A 75-year-old woman from Hamilton, Ohio, Ann Mayers, has entered a guilty plea for the April robbery of AurGroup Credit Union in Fairfield Township. Mayers, who now faces a maximum prison sentence of up to 17 and a half years, admitted to the charge of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon alongside a reduced firearms specification during a recent court proceeding. "I did what I did," Mayers declared out loud in court, breaking the judge's order to reserve statements for the sentencing phase, as reported by WLWT.

During the incident, which occurred on April 19, Mayers brandished a handgun at the bank, and afterward, she discarded the clothes she wore during the robbery from her car window. Fairfield Township Police swiftly apprehended Mayers after the heist, finding evidence, including the handgun, in her vehicle. "I did whatever you're here for," Mayers said on a bodycam recording during her arrest, as noted by Local12. The tampering with evidence was dismissed, with her court sentencing set for Oct. 15.

Given her lack of prior criminal history, Mayers's criminal act was seemingly out of character. The Fairfield Township Police suggest that Mayers might have been the victim of online scammers before she turned to crime. "Seems as though, the way I understand it, she'd been communicating with some people online who may have been scamming her," Sgt. Brandon McCroskey said in an interview obtained by FOX19. This reflects a heartbreaking trend where financial scammers frequently target the elderly.

The robbery took a dramatic turn as Mayers drove off from the bank with $500 in a 2014 Hyundai Elantra, only to be tracked down later at her home. Amidst the unfolding of this case, Mayers extended a gesture of remorse by writing letters of apology to two bank tellers, as revealed during her plea hearing. The sentencing later this fall will determine Mayers's fate as she reconciles with the consequences of a situation that may have precipitated her financial desperation.