On August 12, 2003, J.L. Hunter “Red” Rountree parked his car and walked into the First American Bank in Abilene, Texas. Red carried two envelopes, one of which had the word “Robbery” written on it. Red walked up to the counter and handed the bank clerk both envelopes.

The bank clerk read the writing on the envelope and thought it was some sort of joke. Red assured the bank clerk that it was no joke. The bank clerk asked again if he was joking. Red demanded the bank clerk put money in the envelopes. The bank clerk realized Red was serious and stuffed the envelopes with $1,999.00 in cash. Red calmly walked back to his car and drove away. Another bank employee took down the license plate number of Red’s car and called the Abilene Police Department.

The police department certainly took the bank robbery seriously. Within seconds, dispatchers broadcast a statewide bulletin about the bank robbery over the police radio. Patrol officers were given a description of Red, his automobile, and its license plate number. About 30 minutes after the robbery, a West Central Texas Interlocal Crime Task Force agent saw a car which fit the description driving about 20 miles south of Abilene. The agent initiated a traffic stop. Red remained as calm as ever as the agent placed him in handcuffs. Inside the car, the agent found the envelopes containing $1,999.00.

While trying to determine a motive, Red told detectives, “A Corpus Christi bank that I’d done business with had forced me into bankruptcy. I have never liked banks since. I decided I would get even. And I have. Banks are the easiest things in the world to rob.”

In the 1980s, Red had been a successful Houston businessman who built a company that designed and built industrial-sized winches to hold offshore drilling rigs in place. Following his wife’s death in 1986, Red became involved with another woman he eventually married. We can only speculate whether Red knew of his new wife’s addiction to drugs prior to their marriage. Red told police that he had spent half a million dollars on drug rehabilitation for his second wife, but she was unable to shake the habit. Red and his second wife eventually divorced. Due to the money he had spent on drug rehabilitation, Red was forced to file for bankruptcy.

Investigators learned that Red had a record. The First American Bank in Abilene was not Red’s first bank robbery. In 1998, Red attempted to rob a bank in Biloxi, Mississippi. Red was caught and sentenced to three years’ probation. In the following year, he robbed a Nations Bank in Pensacola, Florida. Red was ultimately convicted and spent three years in a Florida prison. Shortly after his release, Red robbed the First American Bank in Abilene in the manner mentioned above. On January 23, 2004, Red was sentenced to 12 and a half years in federal prison.

Red certainly had a record, but he set a new one. Red said, “I rob banks for the money. Social Security is all I have, and I like to live good.” Red also told a newspaper that prison food was better than what was served at some nursing homes. While most bank robbers typically range in ages from their 20s to their 40s when they rob banks, when Red robbed the First American Bank of Abilene, he was 91 years old. He was 92 years old when convicted. Less than ten months after being convicted, Red died in prison from natural causes. According to Guinness World Records, Red was the world’s oldest convicted bank robber.