Newalla Couple Sentenced for Role in Choctaw Bank Robbery

OKLAHOMA CITY—Last week, Angela Darlene Jones (a/k/a Angela Gomez), 25, from Newalla, Oklahoma, was sentenced by United States District Judge Robin Cauthron to serve 24 months in federal prison for using funds obtained from the robbery of the Arvest Bank branch located at 14900 S.E. 29th Street in Choctaw, Oklahoma (the “bank”), announced Sanford C. Coats, United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma. On March 21, 2012, Jones’ husband, William Shelby Gomez, 20, from Newalla, Oklahoma, was sentenced to serve 50 months in federal prison for committing the bank robbery and using a firearm to commit of the bank robbery.

According to court records, on June 20, 2011, a white male entered the bank with a shotgun, approached a bank employee with a pillowcase, and demanded money. After obtaining cash in the pillowcase, the man fled and got in getaway vehicles assisted by Jones. Following a brief investigation by law enforcement, Gomez turned himself in to the McCloud Police Department in McCloud, Oklahoma. Gomez was indicted on July 20, 2011 and pled guilty on September 7, 2011 to robbing the bank and using a shotgun in the robbery. Jones was indicted on March 6, 2012 and pled guilty on March 6, 2012, admitting that she used the money obtained in the bank robbery to rent a motel room and gamble at a casino. Jones also admitted that she knew of the bank robbery and concealed it from law enforcement. Both defendants were ordered to pay $3,709 in restitution to the bank.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Choctaw Police Department, and the McCloud Police Department. These cases were prosecuted by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Yancey.