Larry Whitfield, Bank Robbery, North Carolina 2008

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – In a unanimous opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed the conviction of Larry Whitfield, a Charlotte man involved in the 2008 attempted robbery of a credit union in Gastonia, N.C.

According to court records, Whitfield forced a victim, who died of a heart attack, to accompany him to another room inside her home while he was fleeing from police after the failed bank robbery.

On September 26, 2008, Whitfield and his co-defendant, Quanterrious McCoy, armed with a loaded .357 revolver and an assault rifle, attempted to rob the Fort Financial Credit Union in Gastonia. Court records show that the two robbers fled the scene, switched get-away cars, and were heading toward Charlotte when spotted by law enforcement officers.

Officers were in pursuit when the defendants’ vehicle hit another car and became disabled on the shoulder of an I-85 exit ramp.

After crashing, the robbers grabbed their firearms and fled toward a residential neighborhood in the Belmont area, where they got rid of their guns and split up. Whitfield entered the home of a victim and threatened her with a knife as she was coming into the house. The victim fled, and so did Whitfield.

Whitfield then entered the house of a second victim, a 79-year-old woman who was home alone. Whitfield forced the victim to move to another room inside her home while Whitfield called a friend for help escaping police. The victim suffered and died from a heart attack during the forced accompaniment.

Whitfield was convicted of attempted robbery of the credit union, conspiracy to possess, carry and use firearms during the attempted credit union robbery, possessing, carrying and using firearms during the attempted credit union robbery and forcing a victim to accompany him while avoiding and attempting to avoid arrest for these offenses.

On November 20, 2012, Judge Conrad re-sentenced Whitfield, after correcting an error in the original sentence, to 264 months in prison for the forced accompaniment conviction, to run concurrently with 240 months in prison for the attempted robbery and conspiracy to carry firearms conviction, and to run consecutively with 60 months of consecutive imprisonment for the carrying firearms conviction, for a total sentence of 27 years in prison.

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