Huntsville Man Sentenced to 38 Years in Prison for String of Bank Robberies

BIRMINGHAM—A federal judge today sentenced a Huntsville man to more than 38 years in prison for three 2010 bank robberies in North Alabama, including one in which more than $93,000 was stolen, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Robert E. Haley, III.

U.S. District Judge Karon O. Bowdre sentenced Tavares Antwan Oliver, 35, to 461 months in prison on two counts of armed bank robbery, two counts of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, and one count of bank robbery. Oliver pleaded guilty to those charges in May. He admitted robbing CB&S Bank on University Drive in Huntsville on September 29, 2010, and Bancorp South on Hughes Road in Madison on October 25, 2010, and brandishing a firearm during both of those robberies. He also admitted robbing Peoples Bank on Beltline Road in Decatur on December 8, 2010.

“Getting violent criminals off of our streets is a top priority,” Vance said. “That is what today’s sentence does for the next 38 years.”

“I want to extend my personal thanks to the Decatur, Madison, and Huntsville Police Departments, whose partnerships helped take a violent felon off the street and bring final resolution to these crimes,” Haley said.

The government’s sentencing memorandum, citing facts acknowledged in Oliver’s plea agreement and his presentence report prepared by the U.S. Probation Office, described Oliver as a drug abuser, a dead-beat dad, and a thief who has gang affiliation and is dangerous and frequently armed. Prosecutors recommended the 461-month sentence as appropriate and justifiable in Oliver’s case.

Two other men have been convicted and sentenced in connection to the 2010 North Alabama bank robberies.

In March, Judge Bowdre sentenced another Huntsville man, Ronald Lewis Henderson, 26, to six years and three months in prison for the armed robberies at CB&S Bank and Peoples Bank. Henderson pleaded guilty to the charges in December. In Henderson’s plea agreement with the government, he admitted he and Oliver entered the CB&S bank wearing disguises and took $93,000 at gunpoint from the bank. Henderson also admitted entering the Peoples Bank with Oliver and demanding a teller put money in a plastic bag. Decatur Police saw the men leaving the bank, and both were arrested after fleeing police.

U.S. District Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn in December sentenced Anthony Shawn Clark, Jr., 23, of Madison, to four years and 10 months in prison for the 2010 robbery of Bancorp South in Madison. Clark pleaded guilty to the charge in May 2011. In his plea agreement, Clark admitted that he and Oliver entered the bank wearing disguises and that Oliver brandished a gun, and Clark ordered a teller to put money in a backpack Clark was carrying. The men saw Madison Police approaching the bank and fled. Both were arrested shortly thereafter.

The FBI, along with Decatur, Madison, and Huntsville Police, investigated the bank robberies. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Stuart Burrell prosecuted the cases.