Cara Lee Williams, Conspiracy, Florida 2014

Tampa, FL – In a shocking turn of events, a Tampa couple has been sentenced to federal prison for a string of daring bank robberies that left financial institutions shaken.

Cara Lee Williams (29, Tampa) and her husband Immanuel Lee Williams (29, Tampa) pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct, delay, or affect commerce by robbery on January 21, 2014. The couple was subsequently sentenced by U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington on different dates for the same charge.

Immanuel Lee Williams was sentenced to 5 years and 10 months in federal prison on May 14, 2014. Cara Lee Williams received a 5-year prison sentence yesterday for her role in the scheme.

According to court documents, the Williamses conspired to rob federally insured financial institutions between December 2012 and November 2013. During that period, they carried out 15 bank robberies in the Middle District of Florida and in Alabama.

The couple’s scheme involved Cara Lee Williams preparing demand notes and acting as the get-away driver for her husband, who would enter the bank and pass the note to the teller. The note typically indicated that the perpetrator possessed a gun. For one of the robberies, the roles were reversed, and Cara Lee Williams entered the bank and passed the demand note to the teller, while her husband waited outside in the get-away vehicle.

The Williamses used the proceeds from the robberies to pay bills and gamble at casinos. They were apprehended on November 7, 2013, and subsequently brought to justice.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Tampa Police Department, Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, Auburndale Police Department, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, Orange County Sheriff’s Office, and Ocala Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Joseph W. Swanson prosecuted the case.

The couple was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $55,526.00 to the victim financial institutions and to forfeit $48,476.25 in proceeds obtained during the conspiracy.

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