Two El Dorado Women Sentenced to a Total of Seven Years for Conspiracy to Commit Armed Robbery
| U.S. Attorney’s Office October 24, 2013 |
EL DORADO, AR—Conner Eldridge, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced today that Chelsea Perdue and Jessica Harmon were sentenced yesterday for conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery. Perdue, 20, of El Dorado, was sentenced to 51 months in prison and ordered to pay $53,402.61 in restitution. Harmon, 22, of El Dorado, was sentenced to 33 months in prison and also ordered to pay $53,402.61 in restitution. The sentencing took place before the Honorable Harry F. Barnes in the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas.
U.S. Attorney Eldridge commented, “These two individuals have now been brought to justice for their part in agreeing to collaborate for their own personal gain with the two individuals who robbed the bank. Our office will continue to work together with other agencies in investigating and prosecuting these types of cases in order to keep our communities in the Western District of Arkansas safe from violence.”
According to court records, on December 30, 2011, Aaron Blaylock and Eric Johnson robbed the tellers at First Financial Bank in El Dorado while using a firearm. After the robbery, Blaylock and Johnson drove to a meeting place where Perdue and Harmon were waiting with a different vehicle. They then switched vehicles and after returning to Purdue’s residence, Perdue and Harmon each received $4,000 of the total $50,400 proceeds taking during bank robbery. Later that evening they drove to Little Rock where Blaylock and Johnson flew to Las Vegas on December 31, 2011. Perdue and Harmon subsequently met them there three days later. Perdue and Harmon later turned themselves in to authorities in El Dorado, and Blaylock and Johnson were subsequently arrested in Las Vegas on January 31, 2012, by the Las Vegas Fugitive Task Force.
Perdue and Harmon each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit armed robbery on March 4, 2013.
This case was investigated by the FBI, the El Dorado Police Department, and the Union County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Mark Webb prosecuted the case for the United States.