Tennessee Man Sentenced to 151 Months in Prison for Bank Robbery
| U.S. Attorney’s Office May 03, 2012 |
HUNTINGTON, WV—A Tennessee man was sentenced today to 151 months in prison by United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers for bank robbery. Charles Jeffrey Asher, 52, previously pleaded guilty in January. Asher admitted that on August 23, 2011, he entered the First Priority Federal Credit Union located in Barboursville, Cabell County, West Virginia, dressed in a security guard uniform and displayed a replica pistol and demanded cash from teller who were working at the time. Asher further admitted that he threatened to shoot if tellers failed to comply with his demands for cash. The defendant subsequently fled the bank with approximately $14,590 in Federal Reserve Notes that he obtained from tellers.
In a similar scheme, the defendant admitted that on October 3, 2011, he entered the Branch Banking and Trust (“BB&T”) located in Hurricane, Putnam County, West Virgina, dressed in a security guard uniform and displayed a replica pistol and demanded cash from bank tellers. Asher further admitted that he threatened to shoot if tellers failed to comply with his demands for cash. The defendant subsequently fled the bank with approximately $15,602 in Federal Reserve Notes as a result of the robbery. Asher was arrested at a rest area near Hurricane a few minutes after the BB&T bank robbery.
The Barboursville Police Department, the Hurricane Police Department, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Hanks handled the prosecution.