Maryville bank robbery suspect intends guilty plea

A North Carolina man charged with attempting to rob CBBC Bank on East Broadway Avenue intends to plead guilty to the federal indictment against him. Juan Andres Valle, 24, was arrested on Oct. 27 last year after officers said he slipped a note to a teller demanding cash.

The bank, located at 330. E. Broadway Ave., is about 1,000 yards from the Maryville Police Station.

Valle was initially arrested after Maryville Police officers said he entered the bank wearing a mask and sunglasses and passed a note to staff demanding money. Though he initially indicated he was not alone, officers swept the area with rifles and found no one.

He was initially charged with attempted aggravated robbery in Blount County General Sessions Court before a federal grand jury returned an indictment on him on a charge of attempted bank robbery.

Now, a notice of factual basis filed in the District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville provides additional details of the day Valle was arrested.

The North Carolina man, prosecutors say, entered the bank at 9:57 a.m. and gave a handwritten note to a teller behind the counter. The note told bank staff Valle was armed with a pistol and had a police radio, and that he had two accomplices outside with rifles. The accomplices, the note allegedly said, would open fire if anyone sounded the alarm.

“The money is insured. Don’t risk anyone’s life for it,” Valle reportedly wrote. “No funny business or you’re dead.”

The money was insured, prosecutors wrote, but Valle still put tellers in fear for their lives and attempted to deprive the bank of its property.

After activating the bank’s silent alarm, prosecutors said bank employees went into the bank’s vault and called 911. Maryville Police officers found Valle inside an employee’s office and took him into custody without incident.

Valle was unarmed, but prosecutors said law enforcement later found a fake pistol, body armor and a hand-drawn map of the bank in his nearby vehicle.

His legal counsel indicated his desire to plead guilty in a March 5 filing in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville, although his plea hearing was later rescheduled to April 3 at 11 a.m. If the judge accepts his guilty plea, Valle could face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.