Three Sentenced for Armed Bank Robbery

CHARLOTTE, NC—On Thursday, March 13, 2014, U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn, Jr. presided over the sentencing of Kenneth Lamont Moore, Jr., 22, of Laurinburg, North Carolina; and Antonio DeMarcus Clendening, 31, and Kamara Shanta McBrayer, 27, both of Charlotte, on armed bank robbery charges, announced Anne M. Tompkins, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

Clendening was sentenced to serve 272 months in prison, Moore was sentenced to 121 months in prison, and McBrayer was sentenced to 42 months in prison. All three defendants were also ordered to serve three years of supervised release following their prison terms.

John A. Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division, and Chief Rodney D. Monroe of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) are joining U.S. Attorney Tompkins in making today’s announcement.

According to court documents and yesterday’s sentencing hearings, on May 20, 2013, the three defendants robbed a Bank of America branch located on Albermarle Road in Charlotte.

Court records indicate that Moore and Clendening entered the bank soon after it opened at 9:00 a.m. wearing gloves, women’s wigs, and bandanas over their faces. The two men were also armed with handguns. According to court records, upon entering the bank, the defendants pointed their guns at the bank tellers and ordered them to put the money in a pillow case provided by Clendening. The robbers fled the bank with approximately $7,760 in cash and got into a vehicle driven by McBrayer. Court records show that CMPD officers responding to an emergency call attempted to stop the getaway vehicle, but McBrayer did not stop, and a high-speed chase ensued through a residential neighborhood. Law enforcement apprehended the three bank robbers after McBrayer crashed the vehicle she was driving.

The three defendants pleaded guilty in July 2013. Clendening and Moore each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery, armed bank robbery, and use of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. McBrayer pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery and armed bank robbery.

All defendants have been in federal custody in the Western District of North Carolina since they were arrested in May 2013. Upon designation of a federal facility, they will be transferred into custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.

The investigation was handled by the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force and CMPD. The prosecution for the government was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney J. George Guise of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte.