Forty-year federal prison sentence for Serial armed robber

Indianapolis man had robbed over a dozen women

INDIANAPOLIS - United States Attorney Josh J. Minkler announced the sentencing of Kevin Ingram, 29, following his conviction in federal court for four armed robberies of Indianapolis area businesses.  U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt sentenced Ingram to 496 months (40½ years) in federal prison.

“Indianapolis is a safer place with Kevin Ingram behind bars,” Minkler said.  “He was a dangerous man who lived a life of lawlessness and violence.  This sentence reflects the gravity of his choices throughout his life, culminating in threatening to shoot multiple women over the course of four armed robberies in our community.  It also reflects this Office’s commitment to bringing the full weight of federal law enforcement brought to bear on those who choose to terrorize our community with violence.”

Following a trial in November 2018, a federal jury convicted Ingram of robbing four Indianapolis stores at gunpoint in an eight-day crime spree in October 2017.  Two of the stores were beauty salons, where Ingram stuck a semi-automatic pistol in the faces and backs of two store workers and two customers.  He demanded cash and threatened to shoot if they did not comply.  The other two stores Ingram robbed were larger retail stores, which Ingram robbed in the middle of the afternoon, with the stores full of patrons, including children.  All of those he threatened and robbed were women, and the jury heard testimony from each of them.

Ingram coerced his girlfriend to participate in one of the robberies.  She testified at trial that he choked her and pointed a gun at her as she resisted him in the parking lot outside one of the salons.  She ultimately went inside with him, taking money from the register while he held the store at gunpoint.  At the time, she was six months pregnant with his child.

These robberies were part of lengthy criminal record that included multiple violent felonies.  Ingram had eight juvenile adjudications before turning 17, including auto theft (twice) and battery resulting in bodily injury.  At 17, he robbed a woman at gunpoint, for which he was convicted as an adult.  After four years in prison, he committed another crime just three months later.  Within less than a year, Ingram had robbed two more women in Indianapolis.  After several more years in prison, he again continued committing crimes, including multiple offenses involving drugs and guns, before committing the October 2017 robberies.

Before being apprehended in this case, though, Ingram fled to Houston, Texas.  Evidence was presented at sentencing that, while in Houston, Ingram robbed several more women at knifepoint, including a pregnant woman.  Ingram still has active arrest warrants from there.

According to Assistant United States Attorneys Nick Linder and Lawrence Hilton, who prosecuted the case for the government, Ingram will serve at least 35 years of his sentence, even with good time credit.  He must also repay the $3,125 he stole during the four robberies.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. “This sentence should provide some comfort to Mr. Ingram’s victims whose lives were forever changed by his criminal and traumatizing actions,” said Grant Mendenhall, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Indianapolis Division. “The 40-years he received is also a testament to the hard work and dedication of our agents and law enforcement partners who worked hand in hand to ensure Mr. Ingram no longer poses a threat to the communities he terrorized.”

In October 2017, United States Attorney Josh J. Minkler announced a Strategic Plan designed to shape and strengthen the District’s response to its most significant public safety challenges. This prosecution demonstrates the Office’s firm commitment to prosecuting those who commit violent crimes involving firearms.  (See United States Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Indiana Strategic Plan, Strategic Objective 2.3.)