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The United States Department of Justice
Welcome to the District of
Kansas
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News releases are available at www.usdoj.gov/usao/ks/press.html
Contact: Don Ledford
Phone:(816) 426-4220
APRIL 13, 2007
NIXA MAN SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS FOR BANK ROBBERY
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - John F. Wood, United States Attorney for the Western
District of Missouri, announced that a Nixa, Mo., man was sentenced
in federal court today for robbing Great Southern Bank in Springfield.
Gary Lee Graves, Jr., 31, of Nixa, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge
Richard E. Dorr this morning to 15 years and eight months in federal
prison without parole. The court also ordered Graves to pay $4,191 in
restitution. Graves was sentenced as a career offender.
"Today's sentence sends a clear message that we are serious about investigating
and vigorously prosecuting violent crime," Wood said. "This should serve
as a deterrent to other would-be bank robbers."
Co-defendant Russell Lwayne Beaird, 30, of Springfield, was sentenced
on Jan. 23, 2007, to five years and three months in federal prison without
parole. The court also ordered Beaird to pay $4,191 in restitution.
Both Graves and Beaird pleaded guilty to the bank robbery. Graves and
Beaird entered the Great Southern Bank branch at 3961 S. Campbell Ave.,
at about 1 p.m. on July 20, 2006. Both Graves and Beaird had panty hose
pulled over their faces during the robbery, and Beaird was carrying
an object that appeared to be a small handgun. Graves and Beaird jumped
over the teller counter and confronted four bank employees who were
behind the counter. Beaird demanded the employees give him money and
pointed the object that appeared to be a handgun directly at one of
the female bank employees. Graves and Beaird took money out of separate
teller drawers, jumped back over the teller counter, and left the bank.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas C. Bunch.
It was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Springfield,
Mo., Police Department.