Quincy Man Sentenced To 15 Years For Two Bank Robberies

Jacksonville, Florida – United States District Judge Marcia Morales Howard today sentenced Kenneth Lamar Ellington (47, Quincy) to 15 years in federal prison for committing two bank robberies. He was also ordered to pay $4,105 in restitution. A federal jury found Ellington guilty in July 2015.

According to evidence presented at trial, on the morning of April 9, 2014, Ellington robbed a branch of TD Bank in Live Oak, Florida using a demand note and indicating that he had a weapon in his waist, which was not recovered. At the time of the robbery, he was wearing a hat and a fake beard. Upon exiting that bank, Ellington dropped the cash after a dye pack exploded.

Approximately three hours after the first robbery, Ellington entered the First Federal Bank of Florida, also in Live Oak, wearing the same disguise. He again presented a demand note to a teller, and stated “Hurry up and no one will get hurt.”  Ellington escaped from the second bank with $4,105.

Soon after the robbery, a witness in a nearby business’s parking lot found a garbage bag containing Ellington’s disguise and the shirt that he had worn during both robberies. Florida Department of Law Enforcement analysts located Ellington’s fingerprint on the garbage bag, along with his DNA on the disguise and shirt. In addition, a witness recalled seeing a black Dodge Charger parked before the robbery at the location where Ellington’s disguise was later recovered. When Ellington was arrested on April 14, 2014, he was driving a black Dodge Charger.  

Ellington also faces a separate criminal proceeding in federal court in Tallahassee for violating his supervised release. In April 2014, at the time of the Live Oak bank robberies, Ellington was on federal supervised release in the Northern District of Florida for prior felony convictions.     

This case was investigated by the Live Oak Police Department, the Suwanee County Sherriff’s Office, the Perry Police Department, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Jacksonville office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Dale R. Campion and Michael J. Coolican.