Armored Car Robber Sentenced

WILMINGTON - United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that EMMANUEL WALLACE III, of Hurdle Mills, North Carolina, was sentenced yesterday by Senior United States District Judge James C. Fox for his role in the June 23, 2011 robbery of approximately $1,210,440 from a Garda armored vehicle when it was located adjacent to the Washington, North Carolina, Bank of America automated teller machine.

On April 23, 2012 WALLACE pled guilty to Hobbs Act Robbery, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951, and using or carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, or possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c)(1)(A).

Senior Judge Fox sentenced WALLACE to 252 months (21 years) in prison and 5 years of supervised release.  WALLACE was also ordered to pay $963,766.00 in restitution, which reflects the almost $250,000.00 in robbery proceeds recovered to date.

Two other defendants, Charles Moore, Jr. and Lenard Smith, also pled guilty in the case and are pending sentencing at a future date.

This case was part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiative which encourages federal, state, and local agencies to cooperate in a unified “team effort” against gun crime, targeting repeat offenders who continually plague their communities.

Investigation of this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Washington Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorney John Bennett is prosecuting the case.