A Wilmington woman has been sentenced to 6 to 12 months in jail for robbing a WSFS bank in September to feed her gambling addiction.
Kesha D. Walker, 47, was charged with robbery, theft, receiving stolen property and knowledge that the property is the proceeds of an illegal act for the Sept. 11 robbery of the WSFS bank at 395 West Chester Pike in Concord.
Walker pleaded guilty before Common Pleas Court Judge Kevin F. Kelly last week to one amended count of robbery for “removal of money from a financial institution,” a second-degree felony.
Walker had already admitted to robbing the bank following her arrest, according to testimony at a preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Wendy Roberts.
“She’s probably one of the nicest ladies I’ve ever arrested and she just needs help,” said Pennsylvania State Police Trooper John Hanosek at that hearing.
A teller working that day told Assistant District Attorney Nick McGuire that Walker entered about 3 p.m. wearing a teal/blueish Super Bowl hat, jogging pants and a sweatshirt with gloves, a hat and a mask, then proceeded to his window.
“She reached over the counter and dropped a note,” he said. “It said, ‘I have a gun, 50s and 100s only.’ ”
The teller complied and handed over $300 in cash. After the woman exited the bank, he informed his associates they had just been robbed and locked the doors. He said his co-workers went to the windows to capture video on their phones.
Hanosek said he reviewed surveillance footage from the bank, which showed Walker sitting in her dark-colored Lincoln with Delaware plates for about four hours in the parking lot before she entered the bank.
He was able to coordinate with Delaware State Police, who found Walker’s tags were fraudulent. He said Delaware troopers towed the vehicle to their facility, where Walker came in and spoke to him about the robbery after she was read her Miranda rights.
“She was willing to talk,” he told defense counsel Ashley Dawn Smith. “She wanted to get it off her chest.”
Hanosek said Walker told him she has a gambling problem and that she took the money from the WSFS robbery to a Delaware casino. She also allegedly admitted to another robbery of a Lancaster bank for the same purpose.
Walker had been scheduled for a preliminary hearing in the Lancaster case March 8, but online court records had not been updated as of Monday. That case is still listed as active.
Neither Walker nor defense attorney Taylr Coben commented during the hearing before Kelly. Assistant District Attorney Anne Yoskoski asked only that Walker stay away from the WSFS bank and pay $300 in restitution. Judge Kelly added those conditions to the sentence.