An Atlanta man pled guilty Monday to robbing the Bank of America off Ga. Highway 314 in Fayetteville Aug. 15, 2009.
Michael Ray Baskerville Jr., 34, of Washington Street, Atlanta was sentenced to serve 15 years in prison consecutive to a prison term he is already serving for two similar bank robberies in Cobb County, said Fayette County Assistant District Attorney Warren Sellers.
Baskerville was charged with the robbery in October 2009 after he was arrested during the robbery of a SunTrust bank in Cobb County, officials said.
During the incident at the Fayetteville Bank of America, Baskerville posed as a customer and waited in line, and when it was his turn to be served by a teller, he passed the teller a note demanding money.
Baskerville was given an undisclosed amount of money and exited the bank, and was last seen walking into a nearby wooded area off New Hope Road, police said.
In another case, a Fayetteville man who robbed the Walgreens pharmacy on North Glenn Street Dec. 26 last year pled guilty Monday to his role in the incident.
David Anthony Shumate, 35, pled guilty to armed robbery, aggravated assault on a police officer, and aggravated assault for pointing a pellet gun at two store employees and one customer, officials said.
Shumate was sentenced to 20 years in prison, which includes a 20-year sentence for each count on the armed robbery and aggravated assault counts and a 15-year sentence on possession of oxycodone, said Sellers.
Shumate was shot by Fayette County Sheriff’s Deputy Thomas Mindar when he pointed a weapon as officers approached him inside the pharmacy area, officials said. Shumate was struck in the shoulder and abdomen and he was treated at Grady Hospital in Atlanta.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation investigated the shooting and cleared Mindar of any wrongdoing.
While inside the pharmacy before police arrived, Shumate demanded access to the narcotics locker and then allowed employees to leave the area. All employees and customers were outside of the store when the shooting took place, officials said.
Shumate’s plea came Monday as the first of two weeks of criminal trials were scheduled in Superior Court, with new Superior Court judges Mack Crawford and Fletcher Sams presiding.
And in a case involving cop impersonators, two women accused of pretending to be police officers to fleece an elderly north Fayette County woman Oct. 7, 2009 pled guilty in Fayette County Superior Court Monday morning.
Katina Jonathan Jones, 39, of Riverdale pled guilty to robbery and two counts of financial identity fraud and was sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by five years of probation.
Paula Aurelia Youngblood, 55, of Birmingham, Ala. pled guilty to robbery, impersonating an officer and two counts of financial identity fraud. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison followed by five years of probation.
Both Jones and Youngblood also agreed to pay restitution to the victim, said Sellers.
Sheriff’s deputies in 2009 said Jones and Youngblood came to the victim’s residence, flashed law enforcement-type badges and ordered her to produce money, claiming they were investigating her for making counterfeit money. Jones and Youngblood threatened to arrest the woman and then later took her to a Riverdale bank to withdraw even more money to give them, deputies said.
The two women abandoned the victim at a Church’s Chicken restaurant in Riverdale, officials said.
