Man Sentenced to Over 11 Years for Armed Bank Robbery Offenses
| U.S. Attorney’s Office December 11, 2013 |
EL DORADO, AR—Conner Eldridge, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that Eric Johnson was sentenced today for armed bank robbery offenses. Johnson, 22 of Apple Valley, California, was sentenced to 135 months in prison and ordered to pay $53,402.61 in restitution. The sentencing took place before the Honorable Harry F. Barnes in the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas.
U.S. Attorney Eldridge commented, “This individual has now been brought to justice for his part in agreeing to collaborate for his own personal gain with the three other individuals who robbed or conspired to rob the bank. Our office will continue to work together with other agencies in investigating and prosecuting these types of cases in order to keep our communities in the Western District of Arkansas safe from violence.”
According to court records, on December 30, 2011, Aaron Blaylock and Eric Johnson robbed the tellers with a firearm at First Financial Bank in El Dorado while the tellers were in the process of refilling the ATM with cartridges that contained $50,440. After the robbery, Blaylock and Johnson drove to a meeting place where Chelsea Perdue and Jessica Harmon were waiting with a different vehicle. Later that evening, they drove to Little Rock, where Blaylock and Johnson flew to Las Vegas on December 31, 2011. Perdue and Harmon subsequently met them there three days later. Perdue and Harmon later turned themselves in to authorities in El Dorado, and Blaylock and Johnson were subsequently arrested in Las Vegas on January 31, 2012, by the Las Vegas Fugitive Task Force.
Johnson pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting in armed robbery and one count of carrying a firearm during a crime of violence on March 4, 2013.
This case was investigated by the FBI, the El Dorado Police Department, and the Union County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Mark Webb prosecuted the case for the United States.