The Mount Airy, N.C. man accused of robbing two payday loan businesses and attempting to rob a bank in Cana in 2007 pleaded guilty to three charges Feb. 26 in Carroll County Circuit Court.

Carl Anthony Berrier, 32, was charged with two counts of armed robbery and one county of attempting to enter a banking institution to commit larceny in July of 2007. Berrier was charged with armed robbery at Speedy Cash and Cash to Go in Cana after police say he wielded a knife and demanded money at both businesses. Police say another robbery attempt was foiled at Cana’s BB&T bank by a locked door.

Represented by attorney Brandon Boyles, Berrier pled guilty to all three charges in front of Circuit Court Judge Brett Geisler, Commonwealth’s Attorney Gregory G. Goad said. Berrier is scheduled to be sentenced April 23. He has been held in New River Valley Regional Jail in Dublin since the arrests, Goad said.

Berrier’s eventual arrest came after authorities noticed the robberies followed a pattern, all occurring close to 10 a.m. on Thursdays or Fridays. Chief Deputy Glenn Nester of the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office was staked out in Cana when Berrier made his final robbery attempt. Nester pulled Berrier over in his Chevy S-10 Blazer when he noticed the license tag had been removed from the vehicle. Nester also found a knife, a mask, gloves, and a trash bag.

In a confession made to Carroll Investigators Venton Smith and Freddie Bobbitt, Berrier said he used the $1,600 from the first robbery at Speedy Cash to pay bills because he and his wife didn’t have any money in their checking account.

“I was fixing to lose my house to the bank. My wife is disabled due to a car wreck that she was in and can’t work,” Berrier wrote. “The bank told me I had to have $1,400 and some odd dollars by last Friday or they were going to take papers out. My wife started to cry, so I done this in a desperate situation.”

Berrier wrote that he also came away with $1,600 from his second robbery, this time at Cash to Go. He said he gave the money to his wife to catch up house payments, medical bills and other bills. Berrier said his wife thought he was borrowing the money from his uncle. Berrier wrote that he didn’t want to commit the robberies, but he was in a desperate situation and was afraid of losing everything.

“I didn’t want to do this. I was afraid. I am glad it’s over and will do anything to make it right,” Berrier wrote. “I have never done anything like this and will never do it again. I am sorry about scaring the girls at all the places I took money. I would have never hurt them. I just needed the money. I was in a bind.”