Press Releases
BANK ROBBER SENTENCED TO MORE THAN 12 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON
April 30, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JEROME L. SCOTT, age 33, a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana, was sentenced today by U.S. District Chief Judge Helen G. Berrigan to serve 151 months in federal custody announced U. S. Attorney Jim Letten.
SCOTT was indicted by a federal grand jury on March 9, 2007, and charged with using “force, violence, and intimidation [to] take and attempt to take from the person and presence of another, approximately three thousand ($3,000) dollars in United States currency belonging to, and in the care, custody, control, management, and possession of Whitney National Bank.” He entered a guilty plea to that charge on October 24, 2007.
According to court documents, on Friday, March 2, 2007, at approximately 11:30 a.m., the Whitney National Bank located at 1324 S. Carrollton Avenue was robbed by a lone black male. The robber approached a teller and passed her a note stating: “THIS A ROBBERY.” The robber told the victim teller he wanted “big bills,” so the teller removed one hundred ($100) dollar bills and fifty ($50) dollar bills from the bottom drawer and handed them to the robber. The robber took the money and exited the bank.
In response to the dispatch of the bank robbery by the New Orleans Police Department, a marked unit responded to the area of the robbery, and began canvassing the area for a subject matching the description of the robber. As the responding officer proceeded down Oak Street, he observed an individual matching the description of the robber on foot.
The NOPD officer called for back up as the suspected robber approached a maroon colored mini-van occupied by several black males. The suspected robber appeared to talk to the occupants of the mini-van, then got into the back seat of the mini-van and crouched behind the driver’s seat.
The police officers approached the mini-van, with guns drawn and ordered the robber out of the vehicle. The suspected robber refused to comply and was pushed out of the vehicle toward the police officers by one of the occupants of the vehicle. The suspected robber then began to vigorously fight with the officers. The suspected robber, who was later identified as SCOTT ultimately was apprehended by the officers and arrested for Battery on a Police Officer and Resisting Arrest.
The victim teller and another bank witness were brought to the location and identified SCOTT as the man who robbed the Whitney Bank.
SCOTT’s clothing worn during the robbery was recovered in the dressing room of a store located near the bank. A witness in that store advised that SCOTT came into the store and purchased with a $50 bill, a baseball cap and a pair of sunglasses. The witness also stated that SCOTT appeared to be in a hurry and left the store without getting any change for the $50 bill. SCOTT left the clothing he wore in the bank, described by witnesses as a green plaid shirt, in the dressing room of the store.
Two thousand one hundred fifty ($2,150) dollars in $50 and $100 dollar bills were recovered from SCOTT’s front and rear pockets. An audit conducted after the robbery established that approximately three thousand ($3,000) dollars of bank funds were taken by the robber. Based upon the quick investigative work, a federal complaint was filed against SCOTT that same day, Friday, March 2, 2007.
SCOTT faced a maximum term of imprisonment of twenty (20) years, a maximum fine of $250,000, and up to three (3) years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment. However, the advisory federal sentencing guidelines called for a range of 151 to 188 months of imprisonment. As mentioned above, U.S. District Chief Judge Helen G. Berrigan ordered that SCOTT will serve 151 months in federal custody. Judge Berrigan also ordered SCOTT to be placed on supervised release for a period of 3 years following his release from federal prison. Supervised release is a period following release from prison during which the defendant’s conduct will be monitored by the court or the court’s designee. If a defendant violates any of the conditions of supervised release that the court imposed, his or her supervised release may be revoked and he or she may be ordered to serve in prison all or part of the term of supervised release. In addition, Judge Berrigan ordered that SCOTT pay restitution in the amount of eight hundred fifty ($850) dollars to Whitney National Bank.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U. S. Attorney Christopher Cox of the Violent Crime Unit.
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