Gadsden Trio Sentenced for Armed Bank Robbery of Albertville Bank

BIRMINGHAM—United States Attorney Joyce White Vance of the Northern District of Alabama and Patrick Maley, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, announce that ERIC JAWAYNE DANIELS and ARTHUR LOUIS MELSON have been sentenced on charges of armed bank robbery and felons in possession of a firearm. ALANNA MAE PARTEE was previously sentenced on June 10, 2009, for conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery in the same case.

All three defendants were sentenced by Chief United States District Judge Sharon L. Blackburn. Daniels, 25, of Gadsden, Alabama was sentenced to 245 months in prison, while MELSON was sentenced to 126 months in prison. Both defendants were given five years supervised release after the prison term is served. Partee was sentenced to 50 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. All of the defendants were ordered to pay $4,507.99 in restitution.

According to Vance, on July 22, 2008, Daniels and Melson entered the Southern Bank in Albertville, Alabama armed with firearms and ordered the employees and customers to get on the ground. After robbing the bank, Daniels and Melson wrecked their vehicle in a nearby neighborhood and local law enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested them shortly thereafter. Partee was arrested a short distance away as she waited in the getaway vehicle.

“I credit the Albertville, Alabama Police Department for their extraordinarily quick response to this bank robbery and the capture of these violent criminals,” said United States Attorney Joyce White Vance.

“These arrests are just another example of how the FBI’s Safe Street Task Force, which the Albertville Police Department and Marshall County Sheriff’s Office are major contributors, are working to keep the streets of North Alabama safe,” stated Patrick J. Maley, Special Agent In Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Agencies who assisted in this investigation were the Boaz Police Department, the Northeast Alabama Safe Streets Task Force, the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office, and the Marshall County District Attorney’s Office. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney L. James Weil, Jr.