Trio Sentenced to Federal Prison in Odessa Armored Car Heist

United States Attorney John E. Murphy announced that in Midland, 20-year-old Christopher Simmons, 20-year old Joshua Bell and 19-year-old Preston Savell were sentenced to 311 months in federal prison for the attempted robbery of an armored car at a Western National Bank in Odessa, Texas, on June 4, 2009.

Each defendant received 240 months imprisonment for use of a firearm during a crime of violence, 71 months imprisonment for attempted bank robbery and 60 months imprisonment for conspiracy to commit bank robbery. United States District Judge Robert A. Junell ordered that the prison term for the attempted bank robbery charge run concurrent with the prison term for the conspiracy charge and consecutive to the prison term for the firearm charge. Judge Junell also ordered that the three defendants pay $30,000 restitution to the bank and the H & K Armored Service, Inc. Finally, Judge Junell ordered that each defendant be placed under supervised release for a period of five years after completing his prison term.

In August, all three pleaded guilty to attempted bank robbery, conspiracy to commit bank robbery and use of a firearm during a crime of violence. By pleading guilty, Bell and Savell admitted that while carrying a .45 caliber hand gun and 9mm carbine rifle, respectively, they attempted to steal money from the armored car. During an exchange of gunfire, one armored car guard suffered a total of four gunshot wounds to his chest, thigh and feet. Bell and Savell fled the scene in a vehicle driven by Simmons, but the defendants were captured by authorities later that day.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation together with the Odessa Police Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Assistant United States Attorneys Kerry Fleck and Brandi Young prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.