A 23- year- old Omaha, Nebraska man, Deron Lewis-Payne, has been sentenced to 121 months (10 years and one month) in federal prison after using ChatGPT to help bank robbery.
He robbed a i3Bank branch in Omaha bank at gunpoint on February 2026 taking approximately $9,175 after threatening two bank employees with handgun.
Investigators later recovered $2,397 of the stolen money, while firearm used in the robbery has not been found.
US Attorney Lesley A Woods announced the sentence, saying District Court Judge Robert F. Rossiter jr. handed Lewis-Payne 37 months for the bank robbery and an additional 84 months brandishing the firearm.
The sentences will be served consecutively. Lewis-Payne will also serve five years of supervised release after completing his prison sentence. There is no parole in federal prison system.
The case was investigated by FBI, while US authorities stressed that Lewis-Payne’s use of ChatGPT was part of the evidence uncovered during the investigation.
The case highlights how investigators can use digital evidence, including phone records, surveillance footage, transaction histories and location data, to build cases against suspects involved in serious crimes.
-9News Nigeria.
