Montgomery Felon Sentenced to 153 Months in Federal Prison for Robbing Bank and Possessing Gun

MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA—Andreas Jejuan Smith, age 28, of Montgomery was sentenced to 153 months in federal prison for bank robbery and being a felon in possession of a firearm, U.S. Attorney Leura G. Canary announced today. Smith was sentenced in federal district court by U.S. District Judge Myron H. Thompson.

On August 15, 2007, a four-count indictment was returned by a federal grand jury against Smith. Count One of the indictment charged Smith with bank robbery in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2113(a). Count Two of the indictment charged Smith with forcible assault of Deputies of the United States Marshals Service by use of a dangerous weapon in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 111(b). Count Three of the indictment charged Smith with use of a firearm during, in relation to, and in furtherance of the forcible assault in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c). Finally, Count Four of the indictment charged Smith with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(g).

Previously, the case was tried in federal court in Montgomery, Alabama, before Judge Thompson. According to the evidence presented at trial, on June 22, 2007, Smith entered Compass Bank in Montgomery, Alabama, and handed the teller a demand note. Smith then advised the teller that he had a weapon and robbed the bank of assorted United States Currency.

Subsequently, the victim teller and another bank employee positively identified Smith as the robber. A state arrest warrant for robbery in the first degree was thus obtained against Smith. On July 20, 2007, while Deputies of the United States Marshals Service Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task were attempting to serve the state arrest warrant on Smith, two shots were fired through the front door of a residence. The federal officers entered the residence and observed Smith discard a handgun. Smith has two prior convictions for Receiving Stolen Property in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County, Alabama.

On April 2, 2008, after hearing the evidence presented at trial, a federal jury found Smith guilty of robbing the bank on June 22, 2007, and guilty of being a convicted felon in possession of the gun on July 20, 2007. On May 20, 2009, Judge Thompson sentenced Smith to 153 months in federal prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Smith remains in the custody of the United States Marshals Service pending placement by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

This case was investigated jointly by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Marshals Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Montgomery Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jerusha T. Adams and Tommie Brown Hardwick.