Corey Wehunt was sentenced on Wednesday to serve 160 months in federal prison for carrying out the armed robbery of the Peoples Bank at Ducktown, as well as Pioneer Credit Jewelry in Cleveland.
Prosecutors dismissed a third robbery count.
Wehunt appeared before Judge Sandy Mattice.
The judge sent Wehunt back to talk with his attorney at one point in the sentencing when he seemed to waiver on admitting his guilt. Wehunt said he only got into trouble when he takes Xanex, and he said he was off of that.
Attorney Bryan Hoss said Wehunt had a criminal record that is "long and substantial." He said he had been in and out of trouble since he was a teen "fueled by a broken home, substance abuse and bad decisions."
The Pioneer robbery was Jan. 19, 2016. Prosecutor Jay Woods said Wehunt planned the holdup and recruited a white male to carry it out. The white male went in wearing a mask and armed with a handgun. The robber fled after he confronted two employees who were also armed.
The Ducktown robbery was Feb. 4, 2016. Authorities said Wehunt's arrest came through the quick actions of a Polk County deputy who was having lunch at the Hardee's across the street from the bank.
Five customers (including a five-year-old child and a three-year-old child) and three employees were inside the bank just after 9 a.m. when a man wearing a ski mask, a dark-colored hoodie, women's leggings, different-colored gloves and light-colored socks came inside brandishing a revolver.
He went to a teller and demanded money at gunpoint. With his finger on the trigger, he then pointed the gun at all those in the bank.
He put the money given him by the teller in a bag, then left the bank with the gun still in his hand.
The deputy had noticed a white newer-model car with tinted windows parked in the nearby Copper Kettle parking lot. The restaurant was closed at the time.
After the deputy responded to the bank, he noticed that the car he had seen was no longer on the parking lot of the Copper Kettle. One of the customers said the robber was seen running toward the Copper Kettle. Believing it was likely headed west on Highway 64, he radioed other deputies.
A car matching the description was spotted on westbound Highway 64. A deputy did a U turn and followed it for about a mile before it stopped.
In the car were Kasara Grady (the driver), her sister Lasondra Grady and Wehunt.
The occupants said they had been gambling at the casino in Cherokee. Wehunt said they would find money in the console that he had won there. A large amount of cash was in the console.
Some $1,900 had been taken from the bank.
Kasara Grady later said they went to the casino, and on the way back, Wehunt pulled up to the Copper Kettle and said he had to go collect money from a guy who owed him money. She said he was wearing her leggings, an American Eagle hoodie and was carrying a dark bag.
She said when he returned to the car he was wearing socks, not shoes. She said he was enraged and yelled at her to drive fast. She said he began disrobing as they drove down the highway, throwing his clothes out of the vehicle.
Deputies said they searched the highway and found a red glove, a gray glove, women's leggings, two light-colored socks and an American Eagle hoodie.
Agents said some of the money found in the console had serial numbers matching money taken from the bank.
Wehunt continued to maintain that the money came from his casino winnings.
Wehunt was in the news in 2006 when he was charged in a home invasion in Bradley County, then later was charged with attempting to coerce a witness in the case. He was 19 at the time. The home invasion was against two elderly residents, one of whom was struck in the head.