Commerce Bank Robbery Defendants Sentenced to Substantial Prison Terms

     TUCSON, Ariz. – On June 25, 2019, Jovante Lamar Fryson II, 20, of Gardena, California and Amauje Jason Ferguson, 23, of Inglewood, California were sentenced by U.S. District Judge James A. Soto to serve nine years and seven years in prison, respectively. A third co-defendant, Tysheere Traymar Ford, 25, of Los Angeles, California was previously sentenced to twelve years for his participation in the same offense.  All co-defendants previously pleaded guilty to bank robbery, and Fryson and Ferguson also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank robbery.  All three defendants’ terms of imprisonment will be followed by three years of supervised release.

     On June 29, 2018, after traveling to Tucson from California, Fryson, Ferguson and Ford planned and executed a robbery of the Commerce Bank of Arizona located on East Broadway Road.  All three defendants entered the bank wearing ski masks and gloves, and ordered employees to the floor before physically forcing them to open a teller drawer and the bank vault.  Multiple bank employees were injured during the robbery.  After robbing the bank, the co-defendants fled in a stolen vehicle, leading a Tucson Police Department officer on a high-speed chase before crashing the getaway vehicle into an SUV.  The co-defendants then fled on foot and hid in a nearby neighborhood, where they were ultimately arrested by Tucson Police Department.

     The investigation in this case was jointly conducted by the Tucson Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation, Tucson. The prosecution was handled by Christopher J. Curran and Erica L. Seger, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, District of Arizona, Tucson.