LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas Jonathan D. Ross said on Friday that a Jacksonville man received a federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to bank robbery.
Ross said 60-year-old Bob Pilletto Best received a 20-year sentence with three years supervised release. Best was also ordered to pay restitution to the bank he had robbed.
Jacksonville police searching for bank robbery suspect
On Feb. 6, 2025, Jacksonville police were called to the First Arkansas Bank and Trust for a robbery, officials said. A teller gave arriving officers a description of a man, Best, who threatened her and then ordered her to give him all the $50 and $100 bills in her drawer.
Officials said she told police that she gave Best $5,300, and he then ran out of the bank. Based on information that identified Best and that he had an apartment in Little Rock, police went there Feb. 7. When Best opened the door, he reportedly told officers, “I was the one who robbed the bank.”
This is Best’s second time being sentenced for bank robbery. In 2005, he received a 170-month, just over 14-year, sentence for bank robbery in Michigan. According to court records, he was sentenced as a career offender after previous convictions in Michigan for armed robbery, assault of a prison employee and escape from jail.
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK.