The Cooler Bandits follows the lives of Frankie, Donovan, Charlie and Poochie, four friends in Akron, Ohio, who as teens in 1991 committed a series of restaurant robberies and received stiff sentences of up to 500 years in prison. Caught up in the wave of over sentencing, mass incarceration and a system designed to brand criminals felons for life this film documents their personal journeys of survival, redemption and reintegration into society.
Director/Producer: John Lucas, Julie Janata
Production Company
Justice Policy Institute
Release Date
January 1, 2013