Bank robber who stole to pay for surgery given away by bandaged nose at airport

A transgender woman who stole thousands from a bank to fund her reassignment surgery was caught at the airport because of her bandaged nose.

Icconic Facce, stole $4,800 from BancorpSouth in Gulfport, Mississipi on February 22, 2019, telling the cashier she had 'one minute' to hand over cash 'or die'.

Facce then allegedly used the money to fund her facial feminisation surgery, a procedure popular with male-to-female transgender patients, which plumped her cheeks and lips and thinned down her nose.

When she returned to Houston Airport on March 30, 2019 she tried to quietly get through security hoping her changed appearance would conceal her identity — but the bandages on her healing face gave her away.

Officers had traced her mobile phone and were waiting at the airport to extradite her back to her home state.

This week, after a two year legal saga, Facce admitted robbery and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

CCTV footage from the 2019 robbery shows her prowling the Mississippi bank wearing sunglasses, a wig, a striped shirt and pants, before approaching the teller and handing her a threatening note.

Police initially identified the suspect as a "black female in her mid to late 30s" and said she "may have had some plastic surgery done to her cheeks".

From June 2007 to January 2008, the robber was said to have stolen up to $10,000 from banks in Alabama by passing threatening notes in Cleveland, Decatur and Lenoir City in Tennessee.

These robberies were also believed to be in pursuit of surgery funds.

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She was arrested in 2008 in Los Angeles on arrival with a flight from Mexico when one of her aliases was spotted by border agents.

According to police reports, one of her notes said: "No games, no jokes and get your hands up. Don't mash any alarms. Don't move or she's had it."

The 39-year-old was sentenced to 51 months behind bars and probation for the robbery.

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