Tennessee federal prosecutors indicted two men who were allegedly involved in the armed bank extortion of Y-12 Federal Credit Union in Oak Ridge in April, the SmartBank in Knoxville in July and the Northeast Community Credit Union in Elizabethton in October.

Following a police chase in North Carolina on Nov. 25, Michael Anthony Benanti, 43, of Lake Harmony, Pa., and Brian Scott Witham, 45, of Waterville, Maine, were arrested by the North Carolina State Highway Patrol and other local authorities.

In the three incidents, Witham (left) and Benanti (right) brandished weapons and allegedly forced employees and members of their families into their cars. Benanti and Witham also allegedly made violent threats against employees and family members and coerced employees to rob their own financial institutions.

On April 28, Benanti and Witham allegedly entered the West Knoxville home of Mark Ziegler, president/CEO for the $873 million Y-12 FCU.

Benanti and Witham allegedly forced Ziegler, his wife and their teenage son in their car, and demanded the CEO go to the credit union to retrieve an undetermined amount of money to secure the release of his family.

When Ziegler took longer than the suspects anticipated, they abandoned the plan and released their hostages unharmed in a parking lot. They fled the scene without the money.

The story of the robbery was the #7 most read on CU Times in 2015.

On July 7, a SmartBank employee and his family were allegedly forced from their home and held at gunpoint by Witham and Benanti.

The employee and his family were taken to a SmartBank branch in Knoxville where the employee was coerced to remove an undisclosed amount of money, which was provided to the robbers.

And on Oct. 21, Witham and Benanti alleged forced an employee of the $106 million Northeast Community Credit Union and her minor son to help the suspects rob the cooperative. According to local media reports, the suspects did not get away with any money.

Although in all of these cases Witham and Benanti allegedly threatened employees and their family members with violence, no victims were injured.

Witham and Benanti were charged with a 15-count indictment that included two counts of attempted armed bank extortion, once count of armed bank extortion, three counts of carjacking, two counts of brandishing a fireman during an attempted bank extortion, one count of brandishing a firearm during a bank extortion, three counts of brandishing a firearm during a carjacking, and three counts of possession a firearm as convicted felon.

About 20 law enforcement agencies from Tennessee and North Carolina were involved in the case, according to the FBI in Knoxville.

Instant Insights /

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