Serial Alberta bank robber gets 10 years

Alberta provincial court

Franklin William Gladue faced manhunt after northern Alberta crimes

EDMONTON - A serial bank robber, once the target of a northern Alberta manhunt with a $10,000 reward from ATB Financial, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Franklin William Gladue, 35, pleaded guilty in a Stony Plain courtroom this week to armed robberies of banks in Onoway, Gibbons, Wetaskiwin and Lac La Biche in late 2010 and January 2011.

In late December 2010, after several robberies in small towns across northern Alberta, the RCMP issued a photo and arrest warrant for Gladue, calling him armed and dangerous.

“Our biggest concern is the increasing level of violence,” RCMP spokesman Sgt. Patrick Webb said at the time. “The first ones, while they were still armed robberies, were not as threatening.”

A gun was used in all the robberies, and Mounties said at the time that the thieves wore masks.

On Jan. 21, 2011, less than a week after the robbery in Gibbons, Edmonton police arrested Gladue and two male youths at a home in the Beverly neighbourhood. Gladue was charged.

Three of the bank robberies Gladue was convicted of took place at ATB Financial branches. The Wetaskiwin robbery was at a Bank of Montreal.

In January, after Gladue robbed two of its banks, ATB Financial along with CrimeStoppers offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction. No payout was made.

Gladue only received small amounts of money from each theft.

After credit for time served in custody, he had eight years and six months to serve. The court ordered that he cannot own guns or any other dangerous weapons for the rest of his life.

A number of other charges against Gladue were withdrawn after his guilty pleas.