COLUMBIA, South Carolina — Three men involved in one of the largest armored car heists in U.S. history were sentenced Monday to at least 25 years each in prison.
COLUMBIA, South Carolina — Three men involved in one of the largest armored car heists in U.S. history were sentenced Monday to at least 25 years each in prison. Judge Michelle Childs sentenced Darryl Frierson, 23; Jeremy McPhail, 21; and Dominic Lyde, 24, for armed robbery, kidnapping, assault and battery and conspiracy. A fourth man, Paul Whitaker, 23, received three years for conspiracy. Childs also denied a request to reduce 25-year sentences for the two other convicts involved, Domonique Blakney, 21, and Kelby Blakney, 22. Investigators say the May 2007 heist in Columbia was an inside job and the thieves made off with almost $10 million from Express Teller Armored Car Services. More than $5 million remains missing. The crime was sloppy and the cover-up quickly discovered. The men didn’t even bring enough garbage bags to haul away all the $18 million in the armored car, defense attorneys said. More than half of the money they stole remains missing. "This type of crime doesn’t belong in any pantheon of crime," defense attorney Joe McCulloch said during the Aug. 10 hearing. "There wasn’t a whole lot of sophistication here." Prosecutors said the Express Teller Services car was stopped at a gasoline station to refuel when two men wielding weapons overpowered a guard. The armored car was driven to a dirt road where two other men waited in a second vehicle to unload the money. "This isn’t two guys that knocked over granddad’s liquor store — there’s a lot more to it than that," prosecutor Dan Goldberg said. "It was a well-thought out, calculated plan." Underestimating the amount of their score, the men only made off with a little more than half of the money. They left one guard badly beaten, duct taped with broken bones and knocked out teeth, while the other guard — whom authorities have called the mastermind of the heist — appeared unharmed. For a week, the men spent money on strippers, tennis shoes, tattoos, electronics, used cars — even Mother’s Day gifts. Five of the six have pleaded guilty to armed robbery, kidnapping, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature and conspiracy. Whitaker, who also worked for the armored car company, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy. ______ In photo: FILE–In this file photo taken Aug. 10, 2009, five of the six men involved in one of the biggest armored car heists in U.S. history, look on during a sentencing hearing. Seen from left are, Kelby Blakney talking with Dominic Lyde, Dominque Blakney and Darryl Frierson. In the back blocked by Lyde is Jeremy McPhail. The men are to be sentenced Monday Aug. 24, 2009 in a South Carolina court. (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain/File) Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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