NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

BRADLEY J. SCHLOZMAN

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html

FEBRUARY 6, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ST. LOUIS MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO BANK ROBBERY

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Bradley J. Schlozman, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a St. Louis, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to robbing U.S. Bank in St. Joseph, Mo.

Marcus A. Weaver, 36, of St. Louis, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple this afternoon to the charge contained in a Dec. 5, 2006, fedeal idnictment.

By pleading guilty today, Weaver admitted that he stole $1,900 from U.S. Bank, 800 N. Belt Hwy., in St. Joseph on Nov. 22, 2006. Weaver entered the bank at approximately 4:20 p.m. and gave a teller a note that read, “I have a gun. I will kill you. Give me all the money in your drawer. Don’t push the alarm, or I will kill you.” Weaver took back the note and the teller handed over the money from her drawer. No weapon was displayed.

Bank surveillance equipment utilized digital video from two different cameras inside the bank. The photographs, which were of very good quality, appeared both on local television and in the newspaper. As a result, numerous tips were received by the St. Joseph Police Department’s Tip Hotline. A number of the tips identified the robber as Weaver.

Under federal statutes, Weaver could be subject to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000 and an order of restitution. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney K. Michael Warner. It was investigated by the St. Joseph, Mo., Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

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