SC man had bomb chemicals, then robbed a Rock Hill bank. Now, prison
A South Carolina man who served federal prison time for bomb-making chemicals before he robbed a Rock Hill bank has been sentenced to seven years in state prison.
And after his state prison sentence for the robbery is finished, Eli Gage Eason, 28, of Clover, will have to serve as much as 21 more months in federal custody.
Eason pleaded guilty to strong arm robbery Tuesday in York County criminal court after he robbed the Wells Fargo branch on Celanese Road the day before Thanksgiving in 2024. The bank is located near India Hook Road at one of the city’s busiest intersections. He had originally been charged with entering a bank with intent to steal.
Visiting Judge Derham Cole Jr. accepted a negotiated plea deal between prosecutors and Eason’s lawyer, Lisa Collins of the York County Public Defender’s office.
Eason told the judge he wanted to waive his right to a trial and plead guilty.
Prosecutor: Eason told cops ‘thought it would be cool’ to rob bank
Eason did not have a weapon when he robbed the bank but passed a note to a teller asking for $1,000. Police caught him minutes later with the money in a residential neighborhood. Eason told police when he was captured, “he thought it would be cool to do that one time,” prosecutor Matthew Shelton told Judge Cole.
No one was hurt in the robbery, yet surveillance bank video showed Eason rob the bank, Shelton said.
Collins said Eason is “very intelligent” but is on the autism spectrum.
“He is very naive about how the world works,” Collins said in court.
Collins told Cole she explained to Eason that a guilty plea means he would be violating his federal probation.
He faces 15 to 21 more months in federal prison after his state sentence finishes, lawyers in the case said Tuesday. Eason was sentenced in federal court in Columbia in 2021 to 38 months in federal prison and three years probation after pleading guilty to possession of a destructive device, court records show.
Eason had been jailed without bail since his arrest minutes after the robbery in 2024. He gets credit for 329 days in jail toward the seven-year state prison sentence.
