Singer man pleads guilty to bank robbery for heist of Dequincy bank

LAKE CHARLES, La. – United States Attorney David C. Joseph announced that a man from Singer pleaded guilty Wednesday to robbing a DeQuincy bank of nearly $16,000.

Gordon Scott Cooper, 56, of Singer Louisiana, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen Kay to one count of bank robbery.  The plea will become final when accepted by U.S. District Judge Robert G. James.  According to the guilty plea, Gordon Cooper entered a bank in DeQuincy, Louisiana, with an air-powered BB gun that looked like an automatic pistol and stole $15,999 from two teller drawers.  Police later learned that a maroon Honda Pilot had been seen in the area prior to the robbery and that the driver had been seen acting suspiciously.  Police located Chad Allen Cooper, 39, of Singer, Louisiana, who is Gordon Cooper’s nephew and found BBs and a CO2 cartridge for the air pistol used in the robbery. Chad Cooper admitted to assisting in the robbery and directed officers on how to find his uncle. At Gordon Cooper’s residence, police located the Honda Pilot, a plastic bag containing money, and a pair of tennis shoes that Gordon Cooper identified as the ones worn in the robbery.

Gordon Cooper faces up to 25 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. The court set sentencing for October 1, 2018. Chad Cooper pleaded guilty on June 5, 2018, to one count of bank robbery and faces the same penalties as Gordon Cooper. The court set Chad Cooper’s sentencing for October 1, 2018.

The FBI and the Dequincy Police Department conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Ayo is prosecuting the case.