THREE MEN SENTENCED FOR ARMED ROBBERY OF AMSOUTH BANK IN MURFREESBORO

Nashville, TN - February 12, 2007 - Craig S. Morford, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, announced that Richard Blackmon, 18, Kumar Ladonn Bishop, 26, and Rogers Tillmon Smedley, 19, all of Nashville, Tennessee, have all been sentenced for their participation in the armed robbery of the AmSouth Bank located at 1590 Old Fort Parkway in Murfreesboro in May of last year.

On May 9, 2006, the three traveled by vehicle to the Murfreesboro area and plotted the armed robbery. Smedley went into the bank to assess the number of employees and customers present and the presence or absence of security officers. Smedley returned to the vehicle and discussed his observations with Bishop and Blackmon. All agreed to rob the bank.

Smedley re-entered the bank once again, posing as a new customer. Bishop and Blackmon entered the bank a short time later and Smedley announced the robbery. Bishop and Blackmon drew their guns and screamed for everyone to get down or they would kill them. Smedley vaulted the teller counter and put the cash from one teller’s drawer into a pillow case, while Bishop guarded the front entrance. Smedley then took the cash from another teller’s drawer opened by a bank employee and put it in the pillow case. Smedley moved on to the vault once a bank employee opened it.

Blackmon went to the bank manager’s office. He grabbed the bank manager and forced him at gun point to get on the floor. Blackmon then joined Smedley in the vault. There were a number of packages containing cash that were waiting to be transferred to an armored truck. Blackmon picked up the packages. Blackmon and Smedley left the vault and met up with Bishop. Bishop took one of the packages of money from Blackmon and the three left the bank with $324,673.

A bank customer was pulling up to the bank as Blackmon, Bishop and Smedley ran towards their vehicle. A dye pack in Smedley’s pillow case exploded and he discarded the pillow case, leaving behind approximately $6,082. Bishop got in the driver’s seat of the getaway vehicle, Blackmon got in the front passenger seat and Smedley got in the rear seat. The bank customer, with her children seated in the rear seat of her own vehicle, gave chase, calling 911 and giving the operator a description of the get away vehicle and its license plate.

Blackmon, Bishop and Smedley realized that the bank customer was following them and sped off. Blackmon leaned out of the front passenger side window and fired multiple times at the bank customer’s vehicle. One round struck the bottom of the rear passenger side door and became lodged. The bank customer’s daughter was seated next to that door. The bank customer ceased following the getaway vehicle and an all points bulletin was issued to Murfreesboro police officers for the getaway vehicle.

As officers searched the area for them, Blackmon, Bishop and Smedley discussed the need to obtain another vehicle. As they drove, Blackmon told Bishop to stop the getaway vehicle near the driveway of a residence. The resident was standing in the driveway, having gotten out of his own vehicle to check the mail. Blackmon walked up to the resident, put a gun in his face and demanded the keys to the resident’s vehicle. The resident told Blackmon that the keys were in the vehicle. Blackmon got in the resident’s vehicle and drove away from the area, followed by Bishop and Smedley in the getaway vehicle. The resident reported the theft to the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Department, who linked the carjacking to the bank robbery and then joined in the search for Blackmon, Bishop and Smedley.

As the three became lost, Bishop joined Blackmon in the stolen vehicle. Smedley stayed with the getaway vehicle. The two vehicles went their separate ways, but became further lost. Officers found Smedley laying on the steps of a nearby church. Smedley ran when he saw the officers, but was apprehended quickly. He had the keys to the getaway vehicle and a small portion of the bank’s money on him. The remainder of the bank’s money was recovered from the getaway vehicle, as was one of the guns used in the bank robbery.

Other officers found the stolen vehicle parked in a driveway near a convenience store. Blackmon was standing next to the open driver’s side door and he ran when he saw the officers. Blackmon was apprehended quickly and officers recovered the second gun used in the bank robbery from his pocket. Bishop, who had been inside the nearby convenience store, came out, saw the officers and ran as well. He was also apprehended quickly.

Each pleaded guilty to armed bank robbery and use of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence. Smedley was sentenced on October 6, 2006 to a total of 150 months imprisonment. Bishop was sentenced on January 12, 2007 to a total of 88 months imprisonment. Blackmon was sentenced on February 9, 2007 to a total of 212 months imprisonment.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Murfreesboro Police Department, the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office and the Tennessee Highway Patrol. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas M. Kent.

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