Wendell man Victor Perez sentenced for armed PNC Bank robbery

A federal judge handed Victor Perez, 24, of Wendell an 11-year prison term after a jury convicted him in November 2025 for an armed robbery at the PNC Bank in Zebulon on Feb. 7, 2024, WRAL reported. The sentence follows a federal prosecution that pursued armed bank robbery and brandishing charges.

Prosecutors and court records describe Perez entering the Zebulon PNC Bank wearing a distinctive patterned ski mask, a black jacket, gray pants, black latex gloves and lavender Crocs while carrying a black handgun. The U.S. Justice Department and WRAL said Perez walked up to a teller, waved the handgun in her face, demanded money and threatened to “shoot her fingers off” as the teller gathered cash, then sped off with the stolen loot.

About three weeks after the robbery, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Perez’s home and in his car and seized the patterned mask, matching black jacket, gray pants, black latex gloves, lavender Crocs and a black handgun, WRAL and EIN Presswire reported. Forensic analysis of Perez’s phone, seized by officers, placed the phone at the bank during the Feb. 7 incident, according to the EIN Presswire distribution of U.S. Attorney Office materials.

Federal prosecutors identified the case in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina as Case No. 5:24-CR-110-D-RJ. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Charles E. Loeser and Logan Liles handled the prosecution, and the Zebulon Police Department and the FBI led the investigation, EIN Presswire said. The Justice Department release noted Perez faced a statutory sentencing exposure of a mandatory minimum of seven years and a maximum of life in prison prior to sentencing.

U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle framed the prosecution in blunt terms in the distributed DOJ statement. “A violent criminal waiving a gun while wearing a mask terrorizes innocent employees and customers. We will not tolerate this antisocial mayhem in the Eastern District of North Carolina,” Boyle said in the EIN Presswire release. WRAL also quoted Boyle saying, “Crime doesn’t pay,” and added his line that anyone who tries to steal money from a bank while terrorizing staff and customers “deserve[s] to go to prison for a long time.”

The Perez case is distinct from other recent regional bank robbery matters. In a separate Zebulon incident, 13newsnow reported that Willie Edward McGee Jr. allegedly robbed First Citizens Bank on Dec. 26, claimed to have C-4 explosives, took $3,234, fled in a semi-truck and later fired on officers; Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche called that incident “domestic terror,” and the FBI asked tips at 704-672-6100. ABC11/WTVD separately reported the arrest of Raymond Lee Dean III in connection with an armed robbery at the Bank of America on Benson Road, with Garner police executing search warrants and recovering evidence.

Court dockets for Perez remain available through PACER and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina under Case No. 5:24-CR-110-D-RJ for anyone seeking the formal sentencing entry and related filings. A U.S. Justice Department photo of Perez waving a handgun at a teller on Feb. 7, 2024, was credited in WRAL coverage.