Film producer robbed Florida bank because he needed more money for his movie, feds say

Two years after a film producer was released early from prison from a bank robbery conviction, he disguised himself and robbed a bank in Florida to support his movie project, federal prosecutors said.

When he was arrested June 28, Nacoe Ray Brown admitted he was filming a movie in Florida and needed more money for its production — so he stole from a credit union in the Orlando area, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.

He had been caught when a police officer spotted him walking into a hotel directly next to the McCoy Federal Credit Union in Belle Isle, according to an affidavit.

Now Brown, 54, of Baltimore, has pleaded guilty to bank robbery and violating the terms of his supervised release, the office announced Jan. 5 in a news release.

In 2020, Brown got out of prison early after he was convicted of robbing three banks in Baltimore in 2001 and sentenced to 25 years in federal prison, prosecutors said.

McClatchy News contacted Brown’s attorney for comment on Jan. 5 and didn’t immediately receive a response.

The bank robbery

In June, Brown ran out of money while filming a movie in Florida and zeroed in on the McCoy Federal Credit Union as a potential source for more funds, prosecutors said. The details of his filmmaking project were not specified by officials.

While disguised wearing a face mask, baseball hat and sunglasses, Brown walked into the bank on June 28 and handed the teller a clearly fake $100 bill stating “play money” and asked for smaller bills in exchange, according to the affidavit.

He then told the teller to read a handwritten note accompanying the fake bill that stated: “Keep smiling. I have a gun. Give me all of your 100’s, 50’s, 20’s, 20’s 5’s. No 1’s. Don’t push alarm!,” the affidavit shows.

When the teller handed over bait money from a bank drawer, Brown ran away with it, stealing the $4,296 inside a plastic bag, according to investigators.

Meanwhile, another bank employee watched Brown disappear into a gas station across the street and emerge wearing different clothes but without any disguise, the affidavit states.

Later, authorities found his original outfit and disguise left behind in the gas station’s bathroom, according to officials.

Ultimately, when police responded to the bank robbery, an officer saw Brown walk into the hotel next door, the affidavit states.

That’s where authorities arrested him and found the stolen money as well as the threatening note Brown had given to the bank teller, prosecutors said.

Now Brown is facing a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison for the robbery, according to officials. He also could be sentenced to up to three years in prison after violating the terms of his supervised release, prosecutors said.

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