Mt. Vernon Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Joplin Bank Robbery

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Mt. Vernon, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for robbing a Joplin, Mo., bank.

Wesley Charles Osborne, 35, of Mt. Vernon, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to 15 years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Osborne to pay $2,240 in restitution to United Missouri Bank.

On Sept. 12, 2012 Osborne pleaded guilty to robbing United Missouri Bank in Joplin on June 18, 2012. According to court documents, Osborne walked to the teller counter and presented a demand note to a bank teller. He jumped the teller counter, ordered bank employees to the ground and ordered a bank employee to open a teller drawer. Osborne grabbed money from the drawer, jumped back over the teller counter and left the bank.

On June 19, 2012 Osborne was arrested at the Downstream Casino in Quapaw, Okla., after security personnel at the hotel where Osborne was staying responded to a complaint made by another hotel guest. Osborne was arrested for allegedly assaulting a female he had registered with at the hotel. After his arrest, Osborne was transported to the Ottawa County Jail in Miami, Okla. The next day an anonymous caller identified Osborne as the man who robbed United Missouri Bank.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by the Joplin, Mo., Police Department and the FBI.