42-year-old Massachusetts man admits to several bank robberies in Massachusetts, Rhode Island

Providence- A Massachusetts man has pleaded guilty in federal court in Rhode Island to charges stemming from a series of bank robberies.

According to the Rhode Island Department of Justice, 42-year-old Joseph Hickson pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Melissa R. DuBose to his role in the robberies of a TD Bank in Cranston, Rhode Island and a Washington Trust Bank in East Providence, Rhode Island.

Hickson is scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday, September 15, 2026.  The sentence imposed will be determined by a federal district court judge after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

According to court documents, Hickson robbed TD Bank on April 28, 2019 and Washington Trust Bank on May 28, 2019. During each robbery, Hickson passed bank tellers a note indicating that he had a gun and specified the currency denominations he wanted.

Collaborative investigative efforts by the Cranston Police Department, the East Providence Police Department, and the Franklin, Massachusetts Police Department developed Hickson as a suspect in the Rhode Island robberies, in addition to a robbery that occurred on May 16, 2019, at the Digital Federal Credit Union in Franklin, Massachusetts.

Hickson was arrested on May 29, 2019, at a casino in Foxboro, Massachusetts. Hickson admitted his involvement in the robberies and subsequent search warrants recovered evidence from Hickson’s car and residence linking him to the crimes. Hickson was thereafter charged with bank robbery by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and pleaded guilty, serving a prison term in Massachusetts before being brought back to Rhode Island to face his federal bank robbery charges in this district.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ronald R. Gendron.

The matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Cranston Police Department, the East Providence Police Department, and the Franklin, MA Police Department.