Tulsa Man Pleads Guilty to Cherokee County Bank Robbery
| U.S. Attorney’s Office December 22, 2011 |
WICHITA, KS—A Tulsa man has pleaded guilty to robbing a bank in Cherokee County, Kan., U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.
Roland D. Ross, 23, Tulsa, Okla., pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery. In his plea, Ross admitted that on July 21, 2011, he and another man robbed the CBW Bank in Weir, Kan. Witness statements indicate the other robber had a red hand towel over his hand as if to conceal a gun and warned a teller that she needed to move more quickly or she would be shot. The robbers fled with the stolen money in a small gold car. They were arrested later that afternoon in Webb City, Mo. Investigators found marked money from the bank robbery in their possession.
Sentencing is set for March 8. Ross faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. Co-defendant Derrick D. McDonald, 38, Tulsa, Okla., is set for a jury trial Feb. 21.
Grissom commended the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, the Webb City Police Department, the FBI and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lanny Welch for their work on the case.