United States Attorney Leura G. Canary Middle District of Alabama

MONTGOMERY FELON FOUND GUILTY OF ROBBING BANK
AND POSSESSING GUN

MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA— Montgomery resident, Andreas Jejuan Smith, 27, was found guilty by a federal jury of bank robbery and being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced Leura G. Canary, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama.

On August 15, 2007, a four count indictment was returned by a federal grand jury against Smith. Count One of the indictment charged Smith with bank robbery in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2113(a). Count Two of the indictment charged Smith with forcible assault of Deputies of the United States Marshals Service by use of a dangerous weapon in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 111(b). Count Three of the indictment charged Smith with use of a firearm during, in relation to, and in furtherance of the forcible assault in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c). Finally, Count Four of the indictment charged Smith with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(g).

According to the evidence presented at trial, on June 22, 2007, Smith entered Compass Bank in Montgomery, Alabama, and handed the teller a demand note. Smith then advised the teller that he had a weapon and robbed the bank of assorted United States Currency. Subsequently, the victim teller and another bank employee positively identified Smith as the robber. A state arrest warrant for robbery in the first degree was thus obtained against Smith.

On July 20, 2007, while Deputies of the United States Marshals Service Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force were attempting to serve the state arrest warrant on Smith, two shots were fired through the front door of a residence, narrowly missing one of the Marshals. The federal officers entered the residence and observed Smith discard a handgun. Smith has two prior convictions for Receiving Stolen Property in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County, Alabama. After hearing the evidence presented at trial, the jury found Smith guilty of robbing the bank on June 22, 2007, and guilty of being a convicted felon in possession of the gun on July 20, 2007.

The case was tried in federal court in Montgomery, Alabama, before United States District Judge Myron H. Thompson. The sentencing hearing has been set for July 3, 2008. At sentencing, Smith faces a maximum sentence of 25 years imprisonment, a maximum fine of $250,000, and a maximum term of supervised release of 5 years. Smith is in the custody of the United States Marshals Service pending sentencing.

This case was investigated jointly by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Marshals Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Montgomery Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Jerusha T. Adams and Tommie Brown Hardwick prosecuted the case.