SALINE COUNTY MAN CHARGED WITH BANK ROBBERY

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - John F. Wood, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Saline County, Mo., man was charged in federal court today with robbing Community Bank in Sweet Springs, Mo.

Jeffrey Lee Wright, 35, of Saline County, was charged with stealing $10,594 from Community Bank, 111 N. Locust, Sweet Springs, in a federal criminal complaint filed this morning in U.S. District Court in Kansas City.

According to an affidavit filed in support of that complaint, Wright entered the bank at approximately 3:55 p.m. on Friday, May 4, 2007. Wright allegedly inquired about checking accounts before asking a bank employee if she could break two $100 bills. After moving from the customer service desk to the teller counter, the affidavit says, Wright then demanded "all the money" and told the bank employee, "it's not worth your life." As he spoke, Wright allegedly clutched the canvass bag hanging on his side and implied he had a weapon.

The bank employee began emptying the teller drawers and piling the money on the counter. Wright reached his arms across the teller counter and scooped up the pile of money, the affidavit says, but rather than putting the money in his shoulder bag, Wright held the money in his hands and fumbled out the door to his vehicle.

Law enforcement investigators traced the vehicle used in the robbery to Wright, according to the affidavit. Wright was located at the Isle of Capri Casino in Kansas City, where he had been actively gaming but had reached his loss limit. Wright was arrested as he was leaving the casino.

Wood cautioned that the charge contained in this complaint is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney K. Michael Warner. It was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Marshall, Mo., Police Department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

This news release, as well as additional information about the office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, is available on-line at

www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html

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