Decorise Major

A Bowling Green man tied to bank robberies in three states pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court.

Decorise Major, 47, pleaded guilty to four counts of bank robbery, reaching a plea agreement in U.S. District Court in Bowling Green in which he will be required to serve a prison term to be determined and pay $20,618 in restitution.

Authorities accused Major of participating in four bank heists in a two-month period in 2016, starting Sept. 1, 2016, with a robbery of Cecilian Bank in Elizabethtown, getting away with $3,187.

According to published reports, a man wearing a cowboy hat and sunglasses entered the bank on that date, displayed a gun to the teller and demanded she place money in a bag.

Major also admitted taking part in the Sept. 7, 2016, robbery of Midwest America Federal Credit Union in Scottsville.

In that incident, employees said a man with a light beard, sunglasses and a hat brandished a small black handgun, demanded money and then left the business on foot.

This robbery proved the most lucrative of the four, netting Major $13,575, court records show.

Major was also tied to the robbery of New Washington State Bank in Jeffersonville, Ind., on Sept. 26, 2016.

A surveillance video released by police in Indiana showed the robber wearing a clear poncho with a white shirt, gray sweatpants, sunglasses and a dark baseball cap.

The robber also brandished a handgun during the incident, according to police, and stole $2,500 from the bank.

Major also admitted robbing Capital Bank in Portland, Tenn., on Oct. 7, 2016.

Portland police released a surveillance camera image from that robbery showing a man in dark clothing, a brightly-colored traffic safety vest, a light-colored hat and dark sunglasses entering the bank.

Employees reported he was armed and took what was later determined to be $1,356.

Each robbery count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Federal prosecutors dismissed two additional counts as part of the plea agreement, including a charge stemming from a 2016 incident at Citizens First Bank in Glasgow in which Major was accused of entering the business in a fake beard, latex gloves, dark-colored pants and a blue-and-white hat, only to leave without committing a robbery.