A St. Tammany Parish jury has convicted Byron Jamal Watson of simple robbery for a disguised stickup at a Slidell bank last November, and prosecutors say his extensive criminal history could now land him in prison for life. Watson, identified in court records as 37 years old and from New Orleans, was found guilty as charged following a trial before Judge Scott Gardner.
District Attorney J. Collin Sims announced the verdict, saying the jury found Watson guilty as charged of simple robbery, according to the Office of District Attorney of the 22nd Judicial District. The case centered on a Nov. 7, 2025 robbery at Fidelity Bank on Gause Boulevard in Slidell, when a man wearing a wide-brim hat and surgical mask, and carrying a cane while walking with a limp, entered the bank, according to NOLA.com. The district attorney's office says Watson fled toward Rosalind Avenue after taking $2,900 in cash, though WDSU's contemporaneous coverage described the amount as unknown at the time.
How Investigators Tracked Down the Suspect
According to the district attorney's office, the Slidell Police Department set up a perimeter after responding to the robbery, and detectives found a fresh tire mark and a puddle of liquid on Rosalind Drive where they believe a getaway vehicle had been parked. Surveillance video reportedly showed a silver Jeep Liberty running a stop sign at Rosalind and Frederick Drive at 3:43 p.m., with no other moving vehicles in the area during that window.
Investigators then turned to automated license plate reader searches, which produced an image of a silver Jeep Liberty without a license plate entering Interstate 10 at Gause Boulevard at 3:47 p.m., per the district attorney's account. The vehicle displayed a distinctive rear window sticker that detectives matched to a Jeep registered to Watson, whose physical description reportedly matched the robber. Authorities then obtained an arrest warrant.
Standoff Ends in Hollygrove, But Questions Linger on Charges
Watson's arrest came days later, with Slidell police identifying him as a suspect and seeking warrants for armed robbery, the station notes. He surrendered after barricading himself in a bedroom at a home in New Orleans' Hollygrove neighborhood, and authorities were able to get him out peacefully, per the same report. The arrest followed a joint effort by the FBI, New Orleans Police Department and Louisiana State Police.
At the time of his arrest, Watson was on 20-year probation for federal bank robbery charges, the outlet reported.
Prosecutors Point to Pattern of Prior Robberies
Assistant District Attorneys Caitlin Rodzik and Iain Dover prosecuted the case for the state. Rodzik told jurors the evidence would show Watson was behind the disguise and was a convicted bank robber, and said he had previously been identified by his neck tattoos during a prior bank robbery, according to the district attorney's office.
The office says Watson's record includes two prior bank robbery convictions, along with a broader criminal history that includes four bank robberies, an aggravated robbery and an aggravated flight. Federal records offer a partial, low-confidence window into that history — a U.S. Department of Justice snippet says a Byron Jamal Watson pleaded guilty on April 15, 2021, to two counts of bank robbery, each carrying a maximum of up to 20 years in prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, Eastern District of Louisiana. NOLA.com's 2025 reporting listed Watson's age as 36, while the district attorney's October 2026 filing listed him as 37, consistent with the passage of time.
What Comes Next
Sims commended the law enforcement effort that brought Watson to justice and credited the investigation with halting what he described as Watson's serial criminal career, thanking the Slidell Police Department, Detective Louis Pellissier, Louisiana State Police and the FBI for their work on the case. Prosecutors say that given Watson's extensive felony record, he now faces mandatory life imprisonment.
Under Louisiana law, a simple robbery conviction alone carries a maximum fine of $3,000 and up to seven years in prison, according to the Louisiana Legislature. It is Watson's habitual-offender status, prosecutors say, that raises the stakes so dramatically. Watson is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Gardner on Nov. 2.
Repeat bank robbery cases elsewhere have drawn lengthy federal sentences in recent months. In Washington state, a recidivist offender was sentenced to 144 months in federal prison for a bank robbery committed in September 2025, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, Eastern District of Washington.
