Third Defendant Sentenced to More Than 10 Years in Prison for Armed Bank Robbery That Injured Teller

All Robbers Held Responsible for Shots Fired

March 22, 2010 - DAYTON, OH—Johnny Wilkerson, 25, of Dayton, was sentenced in United States District Court here to 13 years' imprisonment for his role in the December 4, 2008 takeover-style robbery of a Key Bank on Linden Avenue in East Dayton in which shots were fired and a teller was assaulted.

Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Keith L. Bennett, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cincinnati Field Division (FBI), Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl, and Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer, announced Wilkerson’s sentence, handed down late Friday by U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Rose.

Wilkerson is the third man sentenced in connection with the robbery. Wilkerson pleaded guilty on November 24, 2009, to one count of armed bank robbery and one count of co-conspirator liability for discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.

Jeremy Lewis, 23, also of Dayton was sentenced on March 17, 2010 to 24 years in prison, to be served consecutively to a previously imposed one-year state prison sentence for unrelated crimes. The court found Lewis to have been the leader or organizer of the robbery crew. He pleaded guilty on December 7, 2009 to one count of armed bank robbery with forced accompaniment and one count of co-conspirator liability for discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.

Trey Geter, 23, was sentenced on January 22, 2010 to 12 years in prison. He pleaded guilty on March 25, 2009 to one count of armed bank robbery with forced accompaniment and one count of discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.

Lewis, Wilkerson, and Geter entered the front doors of the bank at approximately 9:33 a.m. on December 4, with hoods and masks covering their heads and gloves on their hands. Geter immediately fired a semiautomatic handgun into the ceiling of the bank lobby, followed by a demand for everyone to get to the ground.

Geter and Lewis vaulted the teller counter, gathered money from the teller drawers, and then forced a teller to go and open the bank’s cash vault, while Wilkerson stood guard in the lobby. After the teller was initially unable to open the vault, Geter fired his handgun once again, this time next to her head, and Lewis assaulted the teller, who suffered a concussion as a result of the assault.

The gunmen terrorized customers and employees, including an elderly woman, as well as a Dayton city employee who was at the bank that morning to withdraw funds to pay for his mother’s funeral. The robbers took the employee’s cash as well as his wallet containing his IDs, credit cards, and several hundred dollars in funeral expense money.

The three men fled the bank after the teller was unable to open the vault and drove to Lewis' girlfriend's apartment. While on their way to the apartment, dye packs included among the stolen cash exploded. Lewis instructed his girlfriend to buy nail polish remover, mistakenly believing it would assist in removing the red dye from the stolen money and from certain articles of clothing.

Law enforcement officers traced the three to the apartment, where they were arrested later that day. Officers recovered red-dye stained cash and clothing, bottles of nail polish remover, the .45 caliber Taurus handgun used during the robbery, .45 caliber ammunition, the bank customer's wallet and identification, and other items.

A grand jury indicted the men on December 8, 2008. They have been in custody since their arrest.