A Portland man accused of a carjacking in Portland and a bank robbery in Freeport on the same day in July changed his plea to guilty on Thursday to the federal bank robbery charge.

Jimmy Odong, 25, was indicted in U.S. District Court in Portland on Dec. 9 on the bank robbery charge and initially entered a not guilty plea, but he reversed that plea after a fast-tracked federal trial was scheduled to Feb. 1.

Jimmy Odong of Portland robbed a Freeport bank in July. 2009 photo courtesy of WCSH 2009 WCSH TV File Photo

Odong was indicted in October in state court in Portland on a robbery charge in connection with the carjacking. He has yet to enter a plea in state court and is next scheduled to appear for arraignment there on April 20.

Odong’s alleged wrongdoings on July 17 began when he approached a woman in a parking lot adjacent to the Seaside Nursing Home on Baxter Boulevard, pointed a handgun at her and ordered her out of her silver Honda Pilot SUV. She escaped and he drove away in the vehicle, according to police.

Police said Odong entered the Key Bank branch on Main Street in Freeport later that day, pulled out a handgun and demanded money. He left the bank with an undisclosed amount of cash in a silver SUV, which was later found abandoned in Yarmouth.

Police sighted Odong later that day near the University of Southern Maine’s Portland campus. He fled, and police used a dog to track him to Granite Street, where he was taken into custody, police said.

Odong is scheduled to be sentenced before Judge Nancy Torresen on May 13 in federal court, where he faces a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison.

If convicted of the carjacking charge in state court, Odong faces up to 30 years in prison.

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