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Press Release

Federal Indictment Returned in Armed Conway Bank Robbery Resulting in Death

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of South Carolina
Council charged with armed bank robbery from August 21, 2017 robbery that resulted in the deaths of two bank employees

Columbia, South Carolina-------United States Attorney Beth Drake stated today a Federal Grand Jury in Columbia, South Carolina, returned a multiple-count indictment in connection with an armed robbery in Conway.

Brandon Michael Council, age 32, of Wilson, North Carolina was charged in a three-count indictment with armed bank robbery resulting in death (a violation of 18 U. S. C. §§ 2113(a) and 2113(d)); use of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence resulting in death of a person in such a manner to constitute murder (a violation of 18 U. S. C. §§  924(c) and 924(j)); and felon in possession of a firearm (a violation of 21 U. S. C. § 922(g)).  Council could receive life without the possibility of parole or death on Counts 1 and 2. 

The indictment alleges that on August 21, 2017, Defendant Brandon Michael Council planned to enter CresCom Bank to rob the bank and kill its employees. Shortly after entering the bank, Defendant Brandon Michael Council drew a revolver and shot bank teller Donna Major multiple times. Defendant Brandon Michael Council then ran into a nearby office where he shot bank manager Kathryn Skeen as she sheltered under her desk. Defendant Brandon Michael Council then proceeded to take more than $15,000 in cash from the bank before fleeing.

Council will be arraigned on the indictment by a United States Magistrate Judge at the McMillan Federal Courthouse in Florence, South Carolina, in the coming weeks.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Conway Police Department, Horry County Police Department, Myrtle Beach Police Department, Horry County Sheriff’s Office, Wilson North Carolina Police Department, Greenville North Carolina Police Department, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, Explosives, and the United States Marshal’s Office. Assistant United States Attorneys JD Rowell and Jay N. Richardson of the Columbia office are prosecuting the case.

The United States Attorney stated that all charges in Indictments are merely accusations and that all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

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Contact

Lance Crick (864) 282-2105

Updated September 20, 2017

Topic
Violent Crime