Justin Levar Taylor, Bank Robbery, Texas 2012

Grimy Times Investigates: Wells Fargo Heist

Houston, Texas – In a brazen daylight robbery, four masked men stormed the Wells Fargo Bank on Kirby Drive in Houston, December 2012. The get-away was swift, but the law was hot on their heels.

Today, in a Houston courtroom, 33-year-old Justin Levar Taylor was sentenced to 135 months in federal prison for his role in the Wells Fargo robbery. U.S. District Judge Nancy Atlas handed down the sentence, citing Taylor’s involvement in brandishing a firearm during the crime.

Taylor, along with Aaron Derrow, 43, Terrance Jackson, 35, and Willie Wright III, 32, all of Houston, pleaded guilty to the charges. The group donned various disguises, with Wright, Derrow, and Taylor armed with pistols. Derrow threatened a male teller with his gun while filling a bag with money.

According to the FBI’s Bank Robbery Task Force, the group jumped over the teller counter, filling a bag with an undisclosed amount of cash. After getting the money, the four men ran out of the bank to their getaway vehicle, a stolen white Toyota pickup truck. All were apprehended a short time later at a residence several miles away.

Taylor’s sentence comes on the heels of his co-conspirators’ sentencing. In December 2013, Judge Atlas sentenced Derrow to 135 months in federal prison, while Wright received a 130-month sentence. Jackson was given a 108-month sentence for his conviction of aggravated bank robbery.

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Bank Robbery Task Force and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennie Basile. All four men have been and will remain in custody.

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