A Portland man who robbed a Lewiston credit union last year and was then overheard on a police wiretap trying to order crack cocaine over the phone pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Portland to a charge of bank robbery.
Travis Mullen, 35, wore a sweatshirt and blue mask on Oct. 7, 2014, when he entered the Community Credit Union on Pine Street in Lewiston and first demanded money from the teller and then vaulted the counter before making off with $4,453 in cash, according to court records.
Within hours of the robbery, law enforcement officers listening to a court authorized wiretap intercepted a call between Mullen and a targeted drug dealer, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Joyce said in a prosecution document filed with the court this week.
“During this call, Defendant said, ‘I got mad dough. I’m talking a few grand.’ Defendant continued to state that he needed ‘a hotel’ and ‘an ounce of crack,’ ” Joyce wrote in the court filing.
About 15 minutes after that call, Mullen called the dealer again to tell him to meet down the street from the Kmart in Auburn. Law enforcement officers went instead and arrested Mullen, who had cash in his pants and shoes, a crack pipe and a note used in the credit union robbery, court records state.
Mullen is now scheduled to be sentenced before Judge D. Brock Hornby on July 14. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine for as much as $250,000.
Scott Dolan can be reached at 791-6304 or at:
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