Sumter Man Sentenced for Robbing Same Bank Twice

COLUMBIA, SC—United States Attorney W. Walter Wilkins stated that Deonta Lamont Carpenter, age 30, of Sumter, South Carolina, was sentenced to 328 months in federal prison court for two armed robberies of the Bank of America at 1141 Broad Street in Sumter. Carpenter pled guilty after two days of trial in federal court in Columbia. United States District Judge Joseph F. Anderson, Jr., of Columbia, presided at the trial, and imposed the sentence.

In the first robbery, on November 4, 2004, Carpenter and Joshua Michael Cogdell, also of Sumter, entered the bank with guns and robbed it of more than $20,000. Witnesses provided law enforcement with a description of the getaway car, and the two were spotted by a South Carolina Highway Patrolman. After the car was stopped, Carpenter grabbed the bag of bank money, and ran into a wooded area near the Turbeville Correctional Institute. SLED bloodhounds tracked Carpenter, and he was arrested after an all-day manhunt.  The dogs also tracked down the bag of stolen bank money hidden in the woods.

Carpenter was released on state bond for this bank robbery charge on July 2, 2005. Three days later, he robbed the same bank again, this time getting away with more than $330,000. Carpenter was captured one week later in Columbia by officers of the Fugitive Squad of the U.S. Marshal Service. None of the money stolen in the second robbery was recovered.

Last July, Cogdell was sentenced to 308 months' federal imprisonment for his role in the robbery. Neither Carpenter nor Cogdell will be eligible for parole.

The case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Sumter Police Department, SLED, the South Carolina Highway Patrol, the U.S. Marshal Service, and the Sumter County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Stan Ragsdale and Bob Jendron of the Columbia office handled the case.