Fort Wayne Man Sentenced To 188 Months In Prison For Attempted Bank Robbery

FORT WAYNE – Markell Palmer-Tate, 27 years old, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty after pleading guilty to aiding and abetting an attempted bank robbery, announced U.S. Attorney Thomas L. Kirsch II.

Palmer-Tate was sentenced to 188 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release.

According to documents in the case, on April 11 2016, Palmer–Tate and his two co-defendants attempted to rob a First Source Bank in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In the weeks leading up to this attempted robbery, Palmer–Tate and his co-defendants had text message conversations about what bank to rob and on what date.  Palmer – Tate had requested time off from work for the day of the robbery.  Bank security video also captured Palmer – Tate casing the bank days before the robbery.  On the day of the planned robbery, a bank employee was kidnapped and pistol whipped by one of Palmer – Tate’s co-defendants. Another bank employee, who was in a separate vehicle, managed to drive off and eluded being kidnapped, Palmer-Tate drove evasively in an attempt to block that victim’s escape. That victim had to drive up an embankment to get away from Palmer-Tate’s attempts to trap her in the parking lot.  The abducted bank employee was eventually released.

This investigation was conducted by the FBI, the Indiana State Police and its North Regional Laboratory, the Allen County Police Department, and the Fort Wayne Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lesley J. Miller Lowery.