A former Marion County Sheriff’s Office deputy who stole over $5,000 from an Ocala bank has been sentenced to prison.
Last week, a federal judge sentenced 41-year-old Christina Gates Thagard to 24 months’ imprisonment for bank robbery. She was indicted by a grand jury in May of 2025, and she pleaded guilty to the charge in early December.
The charges stem from a robbery incident that occurred on Saturday, May 3, 2025. On that morning, at around 9:30 a.m., Ocala Police Department officers responded to the TD Bank located at 2437 SE 17th Street in reference to a robbery incident.
According to court records, Thagard was wearing a hat, hoodie, sunglasses, a surgical mask, and one latex glove when she entered the bank. She approached a teller and stated, “This is a robbery!”
Thagard instructed the teller to place the money in a bag, and she stated that she “had a gun and would use it if necessary.” She then handed the teller a note that read, “This is a robbery I have a gun and will shoot if any alarms or dye packs are inclosed [sic] fill this bag with all at least 50 k big bills only wait 2 mins to call police.”
The teller responded by placing all the cash from her drawer ($5,075) into Thagard’s purse, along with a tracking device.
Using the information from the tracking device, Ocala police officers quickly spotted Thagard’s vehicle as it traveled westbound on SW College Road, near the College of Central Florida. A traffic stop was conducted, and she was transported to OPD headquarters for questioning.
The arrest report stated that officers found the following items while searching Thagard’s vehicle: a purse containing more than $5,000 in cash, a blue latex medical glove, an orange medical mask, a black Nightmare Before Christmas hoodie, and “paper with what appeared to be black sharpie bled through.” Investigators believed that these items were used during the robbery.
An officer noted that video surveillance footage was obtained from the bank, which showed a female suspect, Thagard, who was wearing a single glove on her left hand. In addition, three of the five fingers on her right hand appeared to have white acrylic nails.
Thagard was wearing a black Nightmare Before Christmas hoodie, an orange medical face mask, black sunglasses, and black leggings when officers made contact with her. She was also carrying a large purse, according to the report.
On the footage, Thagard approached the bank teller and placed the note on the counter using her ungloved hand. The note instructed the teller that this was a robbery and that Thagard was armed with a gun.
After the stolen cash was placed into Thagard’s purse, she fled from the bank prior to the arrival of law enforcement. Approximately 10 minutes later, Thagard was located by police and taken into custody.
After being read her Miranda rights, Thagard denied being at the bank, and she further stated that she did not commit the robbery. She was placed under arrest and booked into Marion County Jail.
A forensic analysis later confirmed that Thagard’s fingerprint was on the demand note as well as on a door inside the bank.
This case was investigated by the Ocala Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
At the time of Thagard’s arrest, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that she previously served as a deputy for the agency, though the dates of her employment were not provided.
On Friday, January 30, 2026, Thagard received her two-year prison sentence. While in court, the federal judge informed Thagard that in addition to her prison term, she will be required to serve three years of supervision with conditions that include being employed, undergoing drug testing and a mental health evaluation, staying out of jail, and avoiding contact with the victim in this case.
Since Thagard had remained in custody at Marion County Jail following her arrest on May 3, 2025, she will be credited for time already served.