A central Maine man pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to armed bank robbery in connection with the October 2022 hold-up of a Camden National Bank branch in Augusta.

Joshua Brougham Photo courtesy of Augusta police

Joshua Brougham, 38, of Gardiner and Manchester, robbed the 21 Armory St. bank at gunpoint on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022. Authorities said at the time that several tips from the public helped identify Brougham as a suspect, and he was arrested five days after the robbery.

He confessed to committing the bank robbery, police said, after telling authorities he needed money to support his drug habit, to pay back a debt and to fill his SUV with gas.

At U.S. District Court in Bangor on Tuesday, Brougham entered a guilty plea to a count of armed bank robbery. He faces a maximum of 25 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine, followed by up to five years of supervised release. A federal district judge will determine his sentence at a later date.

According to court records, Brougham entered the Augusta bank about 11:20 a.m. wearing a brimmed hat and a standard hospital mask over his face. After a brief conversation with the bank teller, Brougham placed a newspaper he had been holding on the counter, pulled out a silver handgun, and placed the handgun on the counter in the direction of the teller.

Brougham then ordered the teller to give him “all the money in the drawer.” After the teller placed money on the counter, Brougham folded up the newspaper with the money inside and ran to a nearby parking lot, fleeing the scene in a gold-colored GMC Yukon.

On the Wednesday after the robbery, Augusta Police Department investigators located a vehicle matching the one from the robbery surveillance footage, arresting Brougham at a convenience store. Police searched Brougham’s vehicle and found a handgun magazine loaded with seven .380-caliber bullets as well as an unloaded silver Walther PPK/S .380-caliber pistol wedged in the back seat that matched the description of the gun used during the robbery.

The case was investigated by the Augusta Police Department and the FBI.

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