45-year-old Johnny Charles Butler of Quinlan pleaded guilty on May 15, 2013, to two counts of armed bank robbery, one count of assaulting a federal officer, and one count of using and carrying a firearm, during and in relation to, a crime of violence.
Johhny Butler’s brother, 44-year-old James Robert Cleveland Butler, pleaded guilty in February to the same two counts of armed bank robbery. The brothers robbed the Bank of America in Forney on November 12, 2011, and again on May 18, 2012. In the November robbery, court documents state the robbers escaped with over $69,700 and in the May robbery with over $27,800.
Both brothers have been in custody since their arrest on August 2, 2012, after a standoff at their residence in Quinlan, Texas, that lasted an hour-and-a-half. Johnny Butler also admitted to being the gunman who fired three times at FBI SWAT officers during the execution of a federal search warrant which led to the standoff. Johnny Butler was shot once in the right shoulder before being taken into custody, he was transported to Hunt Regional Medical Center in Greenville, Texas.
Johnny Butler admitted to robbing three other banks besides the Forney Bank of America and also admitted he and his brother were planning a sixth robbery before authorities arrested them. James Butler admitted to robbing the Bank of America on Webb Chapel Road in Dallas, Texas, on February 9, 2011, and the Wells Fargo Bank in Irving on April 18, 2011, and again on June 16, 2011, according to court documents.
“If the court accepts the terms of the plea agreements, the parties agree that the appropriate term of imprisonment is 35 years in federal prison for Johnny Charles Butler and 25 years’ imprisonment for James Robert Cleveland Butler.” according to a news release.
Forney's Bank of America has since installed very thick protective glass around the teller stands inside the bank.