Hogsett Announces Boonville Man Sentenced for Robbing the Elberfeld State Bank

Joint Federal-Local Investigation Means More Than Five Years in Federal Prison for Robber

U.S. Attorney’s OfficeJanuary 24, 2012

EVANSVILLE—Joseph H. Hogsett, United States Attorney, announced today that Raymond Pearson, 44, of Boonville, was sentenced to 63 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Richard L. Young following his guilty plea to bank robbery. This case follows a cooperative investigation by the Indiana State Police, Warrick County Sheriff’s Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Southwest Indiana Violent Crime Task Force.

“This sentence is another success resulting from collaboration between federal and local law enforcement,” Hogsett said. “This kind of cooperation is helping take dangerous criminals like Mr. Pearson off Southern Indiana streets, guaranteeing that he won’t trouble Hoosier neighborhoods anytime soon.”

At the time of his change of plea hearing on October 24, 2011, Pearson admitted that he entered the Elberfeld State Bank in Elberfeld on April 9, 2011, wearing a camouflage jacket, a beige baseball hat, and rubber gloves. Pearson admitted that he was carrying a starter pistol that appeared to be a handgun. Pearson ordered the teller to fill a shopping bag with money and left the bank with $2,159.

An off-duty police officer was outside the bank as the robbery was occurring and saw a suspicious person leaving the bank driving a silver Saturn. Pearson became aware that he was being followed and proceeded to flee reaching speeds of 100 mph. The off duty officer abandoned the chase but did record the Saturn’s Indiana license plate number. The Saturn was registered to Pearson at his Boonville home address.

Pearson admitted that after the robbery he drove home, shaved his beard off, and hid the pistol and jacket he used in the robbery in his basement. Pearson then drove to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to make a false report that his license plate had been stolen.

Pearson was observed leaving the BMV without a plate by two police officers. The officers ordered Pearson out of his car, patted him down and found that one of his pockets was bulging. The pocket was emptied and found to contain $2,159 in United States currency.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd S. Shellenbarger, who prosecuted the case for the government, Judge Young also imposed two years’ supervised release following Pierson’s release from prison.