Smith Gets 17 Years for Treasure Coast Bank Robberies

WEST PALM BEACH, FL – Herbert Lenorris Smith, Jr., 37, of West Palm Beach, will spend the next 17 years behind bars after being sentenced May 20, 2014, for his role in a brazen series of armed bank robberies that terrorized Florida’s Treasure Coast. U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez handed down the hefty sentence after Smith previously pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges.

The case, a joint effort by the FBI, Port St. Lucie Police Department, St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, Ft. Pierce Police Department, Sebastian Police Department, and Indian River Sheriff’s Office, detailed a sophisticated operation spanning from June 8, 2013, to July 8, 2013. Smith and his crew targeted five PNC bank branches across Indian River, Volusia, Hillsborough, and St. Lucie Counties. Each robbery followed a chillingly similar pattern: masked perpetrators, brandished firearms, and tellers forced to hand over cash.

Court documents reveal a meticulously planned operation. The crew, often consisting of three individuals, would storm the banks, two leaping over counters to demand money while one maintained control with a handgun. Getaway drivers, often utilizing stolen vehicles, were crucial to their scheme. For example, a robbery in Port Orange, Volusia County, on June 20, 2013, involved a stolen Jeep abandoned near the scene. Cell phone records tied Anthony Isaac Johnson, Paul Edward Moore, and Alan Demetrius Bradford together throughout the spree.

The brazenness escalated. A July 1, 2013, robbery in Tampa, Hillsborough County, saw the crew fleeing in another stolen vehicle – a Dodge Intrepid – while Raven Simone Sayers and Bradford maintained contact via cell phone. But the most ambitious phase involved a coordinated attack on two St. Lucie County PNC banks on July 8, 2013. Smith, along with Sayers, Ivory Lee Robinson, Tomaleesha Jeffie Laqua McKeliver, Moore, Desilien, Johnson, and Bradford, conspired to hit both banks almost simultaneously.

The plan involved splitting into two teams, each with a female getaway driver and three robbers. They stole vans, robbed the banks, then transferred to the pre-positioned getaway cars. The teams traveled from Palm Beach County, scouting locations and stealing the vans in Ft. Pierce. Law enforcement quickly descended after the simultaneous robberies, leading to a police pursuit and the arrests of McKeliver, Johnson, Robinson, and Bradford. Moore was apprehended near the bank.

Smith ultimately pleaded guilty to two counts of interfering with commerce by robbery, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951(a) and 2, and using and carrying a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, violating Title 18, United States Code, Sections 924(c)(1)(A)(ii) and 2. The 17-year sentence sends a clear message: armed robbery will not be tolerated in the Southern District of Florida, according to U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer.

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