CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn, Jr. sentenced today Jemichael Lovelle Strong, 34, of Charlotte, to seven years in prison, followed by two years of supervised release on firearms charges for robbing a Charlotte-area bank in July 2015, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
Acting U.S. Attorney Rose is joined in making today’s announcement by John A. Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division and Chief Kerr Putney of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD).
According to court documents and today’s sentencing hearing, on July 27, 2015, Strong robbed a First Citizen’s Bank branch located at 4325 Randolph Road, in Charlotte, stealing $3,871 in cash. Court records show that Strong walked into the branch, pointed a handgun at a teller and showed her a note that read, “Put 100s, 50s, and 20s in a bag.” Court records indicate that the teller retrieved money from the drawer and attempted to hand it to Strong. Strong pushed his gun more in the teller’s direction, shook his head “no” and pointed his gun back at the teller’s drawer, nodding “yes” when the teller asked Strong if he wanted more money. Court records show after the teller began walking toward Strong’s direction to hand him the cash, he shook his head “no” again, and nodded “yes” when the teller asked him if he wanted a bag for the money. Strong fled the scene after the teller handed him the bank bag containing the cash.
According to court records, law enforcement retrieved Strong’s fingerprints from a bank deposit slip he had used to cover his gun at the time of the robbery. A bank employee also told CMPD officers that she believed Strong had visited the bank on a previous occasion, wearing what looked like a security guard’s uniform. Court records show that on July 31, 2015, CMPD officers arrested Strong at his residence, and recovered a security guard uniform matching the description of the bank employee, which they determined belonged to Strong’s girlfriend. Law enforcement also seized from the residence the handgun that Strong used to carry out the bank robbery.
Strong pleaded guilty in December 2015 to one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. He remains in federal custody and will be turned over to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.
The investigation was handled by the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force and CMPD. The prosecution for the government was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney George Guise of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte.