CHATTANOOGA MAN CONVICTED ON ROBBERY AND GUN CHARGES

[Chattanooga, Tennessee] - Following a two day trial in United States District Court, Chattanooga, Tennessee, a jury convicted Kendrick Bugg of Chattanooga, Tennessee, of armed robbery and of brandishing a firearm during the commission of the robbery.

Sentencing is set for April 9, 2009, at 9:00 a.m, before the Honorable Curtis Collier, Chief District Court Judge, in United States District Court in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Bugg faces a sentence of up to twenty (20) years on the robbery plus a sentence of no less than twenty five (25) years on the gun charge which must run consecutively to any other sentence. Bugg is currently serving a 324 month federal sentence for a previous robbery and related gun charge.
The evidence presented at trial consisted of the following. On December 29, 2001, an African-American man entered the Western Auto store located on Glass Street in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The man pulled a mask down over his face, produced a semi-automatic pistol, and ordered the two employees to the floor. He pulled the phone cord out of the wall, duct taped both employees, and opened the cash register. The man chambered a round into the pistol and told the employees there was not enough money there. He took the money from the register and then, in an effort to hide his fingerprints, he took a lotion bottle that was on the counter next to the register and squirted lotion all over the register. He left the lotion bottle at the scene and fled with approximately $500. Chattanooga Police Department Detective Mike Early recovered the lotion bottle, and Chattanooga Police Department Sergeant Darrell Whitfield lifted a fingerprint from it. The fingerprint lift was sent to the FBI Crime Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia where an FBI fingerprint expert matched it to the known prints of Mr. Bugg.
FBI Task Force Officer Randy Poland was in charge of the investigation. In addition to the FBI, The Chattanooga Police Department assisted in the investigation and subequent conviction and sentencing of Bugg. Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Poole represented the United States at trial.
For additional information, please contact United States Attorney Russ Dedrick, 865-545-4167, Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Poole, 423-752-5140, or Public Information Officer Sharry Dedman-Beard, 865-545-4167.