NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

BETH PHILLILPS

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov../index.html

JUNE 16, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COLUMBIA MAN SENTENCED FOR ARMED BANK ROBBERIES

SERIES OF ARMED ROBBERIES CULMINATED

IN SHOOT-OUT WITH OFFICERS

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Columbia, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a series of armed bank robberies that culminated in a vehicle pursuit and shoot-out with law enforcement officers.

Michael A. Leak, 19, of Columbia, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Scott O. Wright to 15 years and one month in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Leak to pay $42,322 in restitution.

On Feb. 9, 2010, Leak pleaded guilty to two counts of aiding and abetting another person in armed bank robberies. Leak also pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting the use of a firearm during a crime of violence.

Co-defendant William Alan Wolfe, 29, of Fulton, Mo., pleaded guilty on April 21, 2010, to two counts of armed robbery and one count of using a firearm during a crime of violence.

Wolfe admitted that he stole $25,561 at gunpoint from the Bank of Brookfield in Winigan, Mo., on July 2, 2009. Wolfe pointed a semi-automatic pistol at a teller and demanded that she give him money. Leak admitted that he drove the get-away vehicle, a Buick LeSabre.

Wolfe also admitted that he stole $12,060 from the F and C Bank in Holden, Mo., on July 8, 2009. Wolfe was armed with a handgun when he entered the bank, approached a teller, and demanded that she give him money from her drawer. Leak admitted that he drove the get-away vehicle during that robbery, as well.

The LeSabre was spotted approximately three miles east of the F and C Bank by a deputy sheriff with the Johnson County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department. The deputy attempted to stop the vehicle by activating his lights and sirens. Wolfe repeatedly shot at the pursuing deputy with a semi-automatic rifle, striking his vehicle multiple times and disabling it. The Chief of Police for the Holden, Mo., Police Department continued to pursue Wolfe and Leak. During the pursuit, Wolfe continued to shoot at the police chief’s vehicle, striking the windshield and disabling the vehicle.

During a search for the robbers, the LeSabre was found engulfed in flames in Chilhowee, Mo. A flatbed pickup truck, stolen from a nearby home, was later located near Boonville, Mo., where it was partially submerged in the Missouri River.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney D. Michael Green. It was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Johnson County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, and the Holden, Mo., Police Department.

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