An off-duty police officer working security at a Choctaw bank turned a would-be heist into a fast fizzle, and now the man behind the attempt is headed back to federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Timothy DeGiusti on Monday sentenced 48-year-old Jerry Ray Brown to 66 months in federal prison for a March 2025 attempted bank robbery in Choctaw. The attempt ended without injuries after the off-duty officer drew a weapon, prompting the suspect to flee. Brown later pleaded guilty to attempted bank robbery, and prosecutors persuaded the court to consider evidence from his earlier federal bank robbery cases at sentencing.
As reported by KOKH, on March 28, 2025 Brown approached a teller at the Choctaw bank and demanded access to the vault. The teller turned out to be an off-duty police officer assigned to security, who drew a weapon, sending Brown running from the scene. KOKH reports that investigators later identified and arrested Brown, who pleaded guilty in November 2025 before receiving the 66-month sentence from Judge DeGiusti last week.
What court filings say
Federal court records describe an indictment charging Brown with one count of attempted bank robbery and outline the government’s plan to introduce evidence from two 2020 robberies to prove identity and intent, according to Midpage. The filings highlight similarities in clothing, Brown’s demand to be taken to a vault, and his alleged getaway tactics, details the judge ultimately found probative when comparing the Choctaw attempt with the earlier crimes.
Prior convictions
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma previously prosecuted Brown for two bank robberies in 2020, noting he was sentenced in November 2022 to 51 months in federal prison. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma, those cases involved surveillance and witness evidence tying Brown to robberies in Skiatook and Sperry.
The charge and penalty
Brown was charged with attempted bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a), and his November guilty plea left sentencing as the remaining step, according to Midpage. With prior federal prison time already on Brown’s record, Judge DeGiusti imposed a 66-month term, to be followed by supervised release unless the sentence is changed on appeal.
The case underscores how federal prosecutors lean on prior-act evidence in repeat bank robbery prosecutions and highlights the role off-duty security officers can play in stopping a robbery attempt before it turns violent. With this latest sentence, the government has closed another chapter in a string of bank robbery cases tied to Brown’s name.
