Multiple Bank robbery while out on bond for Bank Robbery
What is the worse thing a defendant can do while out on Bond? Simple. Commit the same crime already charged with again.
Its rather hard for a criminal defense lawyer to convince a judge that hie/her client learned their lesson when they commit the exact same crime while out on bond, which is what the criminal defense lawyers tried to do this week when the two defendants pled guilty. That is what Elysia Nolan and Maurice Small did. After robbing three banks in May 2008, in the Myrtle Beach area, and just short of one month out on bond, the two did it again in Murrells Inlet when they robbed the Branch Banking and Trust. The judge was understandably in his rights in not show a great deal of symphthy.
Ms. Nolan received a sentence of seven years and Mr. Small got seven years and three months. They will serve their time in a federal prison.
Why on earth anyone would want to rob a bank is beyond me. Banks have every safe guard and devise imaginable. They are all equipped with videos, silent alarms, dye packs, and you never hear about anyone taking very much money. The tellers always keep a small amount of cash in their drawers and the robbers never seem to be able to get to the big stash of money in the safe. Then once there is a robbery, its investigated by the FBI, is handled in federal court, and is diligently and aggressively investigated using every piece of technology imaginable. Then once an arrest is made, the cases are prosecuted in federal court with the same aggressiveness. Oh well.
