United States v. Tucker

In 2009, two masked men entered the credit union waving guns. The taller was a light-skinned African American wearing a black hooded sweatshirt. The shorter man, fully masked, wore a gray sweatshirt. A teller included with the money a “dye pack” that exploded as the robbers sped away in their Pontiac, spewing red smoke into the air. Kortas witnessed the robbery through a drive-through window. After dialing 911, he pursued the Pontiac, noting its plate number. He saw the robbers pitch a bag out the window, red dye “coming out like smoke.” Kortas chased them to Toledo, where they ditched the car, eluding Kortas and the police. In 2011, they were indicted for bank robbery, 18 U.S.C. 2113(a), and use of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, 18 U.S.C. 924(c). There was evidence that the Pontiac was stolen the night before the robbery. The FBI recovered Tucker’s DNA from its steering wheel. Investigators discovered clothing near the abandoned Pontiac. DNA on items matched both men. Tucker stands 5'7'' and is a light-skinned African American, Sherer stands 5'3'' and is left-handedness, like the man in gray. Sherer and Tucker lived blocks from each other and from the home of the Pontiac’s owner. During 10 days before the robbery, they called each other 27 times. Convicted, Tucker received a 147-month sentence; Sherer, a 540-month sentence. The Sixth Circuit affirmed, rejecting challenges under the Speedy Trial Act, to the sufficiency of the evidence, and to the sentences. View "United States v. Tucker" on Justia Law