Two Bragg soldiers plead guilty to planning bank robbery

Wilmington, N.C. — Two Fort Bragg soldiers pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to rob a local bank on the day after Thanksgiving, authorities said.

Pfc. Prielinso Andre Conner, 20, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting bank robbery, aiding and abetting attempted armed bank robbery, aiding and abetting possession of a stolen firearm and aiding and abetting the use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Pfc. Louis Eduard Rodriguez, 20, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank robbery and aiding and abetting the use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

Both men will be sentenced in June.

Prosecutors said Conner and Rodriguez plotted with Conner's wife, Tajia Renee Conner, and Pvt. Justin Lee Roberson to rob Fort Sill National Bank on Nov. 28. The bank is in a Yadkin Road strip mall about two-thirds of a mile from Fort Bragg.

Rodriguez and Roberson stole a shotgun and ammunition from a car two days before the planned robbery, which was thwarted when Fayetteville police and federal agents them before they could carry out their plan, prosecutors said.

Tajia Conner and Roberson are expected to be arraigned in federal court in April.

All three soldiers are members of the 101st Chemical Detachment at Fort Bragg.