Houston Man Handed Sentence in Area Armored Car Robberies
| U.S. Attorney’s Office July 10, 2013 |
HOUSTON—Walter Keitric Freeman, 24, of Houston, has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction in the robbery and attempted robbery of two armored cars operating in and around Houston, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today. Freeman entered a plea of guilty Friday, April 12, 2013.
Today, U.S. District Judge Gray H. Miller handed Freeman a sentence of 57 months for his conviction of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, as well as a consecutive sentence of 10 years for discharging of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence. Following his total 177-month sentence, Freeman will be on supervised release for five years. Freeman will also be jointly and severally liable to pay back the money stolen from a Loomis Armored truck on November 21, 2009.
Four others also charged in the case—Hendrick Dwayne Lynn, 30; Chad Eric Haywood, 24;, and Corinthians Lachell Phillips, 28, all of Houston; and Allen Moore Jr., 46, of Dallas—had previously also entered guilty pleas for their roles in the crimes and will be sentenced in September 2013. Lynn and Haywood were both convicted of two counts of interference with commerce by robbery, while Lynn and Phillips also admitted to the conspiracy charge. Haywood also pleaded guilty to a count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence as did Moore who was further convicted of interference with commerce by robbery.
Loomis Armored U.S. Inc., who operated the trucks during the alleged robbery and robbery attempt, maintains offices throughout the United States and was engaged in the business of secured armored transport of United States currency in interstate commerce and in picking up and delivering United States currency to financial institutions and check cashing businesses, both of which are industries which affect interstate commerce.
Lynn, Haywood and Moore were charged with their involvement in the August 7, 2009 attempted robbery of a Loomis armored truck at the Bank of America at 3704 Old Spanish Trail in Houston. Lynn drove to the location, at which time Haywood and Moore, who were armed with Glock pistols, jumped out and shot at the guard. The guard has since recovered. The guard had been filling an ATM machine, but it was already locked and no money was obtained.
The second incident occurred on November 21, 2009, at which time another guard was shot. On that date, Lynn drove Freeman and Haywood to Senor Check Cashing Store #2 located at 5950 S. Gessner Road in Houston. Freeman fired his pistol and shot in the direction of the guard. The guard was hit but survived. On that same date, Phillips drove a second vehicle to the Gessner location and, following the robbery, switched vehicles with Haywood, Freeman and Lynn.
Phillips has been permitted to remain on bond, while the others have been and will remain in custody pending further criminal proceedings.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Bank Robbery Task Force and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennie Basile.