United States Attorney Richard B. Roper
Northern District of Texas

BANK ROBBERS WHO WERE HURRICANE KATRINA
EVACUEES ARE SENTENCED

DALLAS — Three of the four men who evacuated New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and pled guilty to their role in a December 2006 armed bank robbery in Dallas, have been sentenced, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas.

Today, defendant Marvin Wayne Birtha, 43, who pled guilty to one count of bank robbery with a deadly weapon and one count of using, carrying and brandishing a firearm during or in relation to, a crime of violence, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay to 135 months (more than 11 years) in prison. Defendant Isaac Sabatier, 22, who pled guilty to the same charge, was sentenced last month to 117 months (nearly 10 years) in prison and defendant Gregory Denson, 42, who pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank robbery, was sentenced in May to 60 months in prison. Lead defendant, Ken Joseph Harrison, 39, who also pled guilty to one count of bank robbery with a deadly weapon and one count of using, carrying and brandishing a firearm during or in relation to, a crime of violence, is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Lindsay on August 6, 2007.

On the morning of Saturday, December 16, 2006, Harrison, Birtha and Sabatier drove to the Chase Bank located at 2325 Gus Thomasson Road in Dallas with the express intent to rob it. They, along with co-defendant Denson, discussed and planned the robbery. After arriving at the bank in Denson’s vehicle, which they planned to use as the get-away vehicle, Harrison, Birtha and Sabatier, each armed with a handgun, entered the bank. Harrison and Sabatier stood near the front entrance and in the lobby area with weapons drawn while Birtha approached the teller stations. Birtha jumped over the teller counter and ordered all employees to the floor; he then began taking U.S. currency from the teller drawers and placing it into a plastic bag. Afterwards, all three fled the bank and drove away in the vehicle they had borrowed from Denson. They drove to an apartment complex on South Buckner in Dallas, where they were arrested.

U.S. Attorney praised the excellent investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Dallas Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Calvert.

###