Armed Bank Robbery Lands Arkansas Man in Federal Prison for a Decade

OKLAHOMA CITY – BRIAN KEITH MAYS, 58, of Arkansas, has been sentenced to serve 120 months in federal prison for committing armed bank robbery and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, announced U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.

On January 21, 2025, a federal Grand Jury returned a two-count Superseding Indictment, charging Mays with armed bank robbery and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. On March 13, 2025, after a three-day trial, a federal jury found Mays guilty of both counts.

According to evidence presented at trial, on July 5, 2024, Mays brandished a pistol at the FNB Community Bank in Harrah, Oklahoma, and demanded money from the tellers. The tellers complied, and Mays left the bank with $12,123.00. Agents with the FBI reviewed surveillance footage from the bank and an adjoining store, where they viewed Mays flee the scene. An eyewitness was able to obtain the tag number of the get-away vehicle, and an investigation into that car led authorities to Mays.

At the sentencing hearing on June 30, 2025, U.S. District Judge Bernard M. Jones sentenced Mays to serve 120 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. In announcing his sentence, Judge Jones noted the dangerous nature and circumstances of the robbery as well as the impact such an offense has on the victims. 

This case is the result of an investigation by the FBI Oklahoma City and Fort Smith Field Offices, Harrah Police Department, Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office, and the Oklahoma City Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel Gridley and Drew E. Davis and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Laney Ellis (SAUSA) prosecuted the case. SAUSA Ellis is an attorney with City of Oklahoma City whose position is funded by a federal Project Safe Neighborhoods grant awarded to the City of Oklahoma City to enhance efforts to address and reduce violent crime.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

Reference is made to public filings for additional information.