Valdosta Bank Robbers Sentenced

Michael J. Moore, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, announced that on December 17, 2012, armed bank robbers Dylan Dougherty Stanley, age 27; Lee Grace Dougherty, age 30; and Ryan Edward Dougherty, age 23, were sentenced in Valdosta by Senior District Judge Hugh Lawson. The three had earlier pled guilty to one count of bank robbery and one count of discharging, using, and carrying a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence. Judge Lawson sentenced each of the three to 228 months in federal prison on the bank robbery count and 200 months on the firearm count, to run consecutively, for a total term of imprisonment of 428 months. There is no parole in the federal system. The term of imprisonment is to be followed by five years of supervised release and each was ordered, jointly, to make restitution of $1,738, the amount of stolen money that was not recovered, to Certusbank in Valdosta.

The case arose from the armed bank robbery of the Certusbank branch on Norman Drive in Valdosta, Georgia, on August 2, 2011. The three entered the bank carrying firearms, including an AK-47-type rifle pistol, a machine pistol, and a .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun. Dylan and Lee Grace discharged the AK-47-type pistol rifle and the machine pistol inside the bank during the robbery, while Ryan jumped the teller counter and took $5,168 in cash from a teller drawer. The three were captured in Colorado on August 10, 2011, after a well-publicized, national manhunt that ended with the crash of the vehicle they were traveling in after shots were fired at Colorado law enforcement officers. Lee Grace was shot in the leg after pointing a weapon at a Colorado law enforcement officer.

“These defendants endangered the lives of the bank employees and responding law enforcement officers and at the same time threw away the majority of their own futures. When people use guns during a crime, my office will spare no effort in seeing them brought to justice“, said U.S. Attorney Michael Moore.

The three have also pled guilty in Huerfano County, Colorado, to charges related to the car chase in Colorado, and will be resentenced there at a later date. The three also potentially face charges in Pasco County, Florida, where they are believed to have fired shots at a law enforcement officer in Zephyrhills who was attempting to stop the vehicle for speeding on the same morning as the bank robbery.

The case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and officers of the Valdosta, Georgia Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert McCullers. Questions concerning this case should be directed to Sue McKinney, Public Affairs Specialist, United States Attorney’s Office, at (478) 621-2602.