Louisville Men Sentenced in Bank Robberies
Defendant Pled Guilty to a 1991 Murder and was Sentenced to 151 Months in Prison; Led Metro Louisville Police on a High-Speed Chase

LOUISVILLE, KY—A Louisville man was sentenced to 151 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, this week by Senior United States District Judge Thomas B. Russell after pleading guilty to robbing one bank located in Jefferson County, Kentucky, and for being a career offender, announced David J. Hale, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.

According to the superseding indictment, Kawain D. Woods, age 40, aided by others, robbed the River City Bank on Greenwood Road of $2,150 on March 24, 2011. A second defendant, Telly Terrell Byrd, of Louisville, age 29, pled guilty to a one count superseding indictment for the robbery of the River City Bank and was sentenced on September 26, 2011, by Senior Judge Russell, to 57 months in prison, supervised release for a period of two years and restitution of $1,489. A third defendant, Siddeeq Abdul-Jalil, a/k/a Lorenzo A. Tunstull, of Louisville, age 35, was charged with defendant Woods in a two-count second superseding indictment and pled guilty in U.S. District Court March 19, 2012, to robbing two local banks including the River City Bank on Greenwood Road March 24, 2011, and to robbing by force, violence, and intimidation the Fifth Third Bank on New Cut Road of $4,988 on April 19, 2011. Abdul-Jalil was sentenced by Senior Judge Russell to 57 months this week and also is named as one of the drivers of the getaway car, subsequent to the robbery of the River City Bank, which led Louisville Metro Police on a high-speed chase.

In April 2001, Woods was charged with, and later pled guilty to, the 1991 robbery and murder of Joseph Keith Brown after a Louisville Police Cold Case Squad identified Woods through a fingerprint match on Brown’s car. The court considered Woods a career criminal not only for the 1991 murder but for a string of felonies prosecuted in Jefferson County Circuit Court including third-degree assault for attacking a Burger King manager with a knife after robbing the restaurant, resisting arrest for choking a police officer, and first-degree assault under extreme emotional disturbance for stabbing in the neck the driver of a stopped vehicle during an attempted robbery. The victim was able to remove the broken knife and stabbed Woods 13 times while he fled with $1,000.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ream and was investigated by the FBI and Metro Louisville Police.