Tammy Copas, Armed Robbery, Tennessee 2012

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – A Johnson City woman has been sentenced to 121 months in prison for her role in a pair of armed robberies in January 2012.

Tammy Copas, 40, pleaded guilty to the robberies of the Discount Tobacco Outlet store in Elizabethton and the La Perla restaurant in Johnson City. She was also found guilty of brandishing a firearm during the commission of the La Perla robbery.

Copas was sentenced to 37 months for each of the robberies, with the terms to run concurrently. She was also sentenced to 84 months for brandishing a firearm, which will run consecutively to the robbery sentences. According to federal law, brandishing a firearm in the commission of a violent offense carries a minimum mandatory sentence of seven years.

The robberies, which occurred on January 1, 2012, were investigated by the Johnson City Police, Elizabethton Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Gregory Bowman represented the United States in the case.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a national strategy that aims to enforce existing gun laws and provide prosecutors with more options to ensure that criminals who commit gun crimes face tough sentences.

Upon her release from prison, Copas will be subject to three years of supervised release under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge J. Ronnie Greer.

Law enforcement agencies from across the region are hailing the sentencing as a major victory in the fight against gun violence. ‘This sentence demonstrates the commitment of our law enforcement agencies to keeping our communities safe from violent crime,’ said a spokesperson for the Johnson City Police.

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