2 sentenced to prison for St. Louis armoured car heist

ST. LOUIS — Two men were sentenced Tuesday to nearly 12 years in federal prison for their involvement in an armoured car robbery that was among the biggest heists ever in St. Louis.

U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry sentenced Charles Johnson, 36, and Shayne Kier Jones, 30, both of St. Louis. Both pleaded guilty in December to conspiracy charges.

Jones worked for Dunbar Armored Car Co. and told authorities he was threatened into participating in the robbery.

The crime happened April 4, 2016. Jones stopped at a gas station pretending to be lost, the U.S. attorney’s office in St. Louis said. When he got out of the truck, Johnson and another man rushed him and demanded money as part of the ruse. Court documents show Jones obliged, throwing bags of money out the back door of the armoured truck to Johnson and the other man.

They put the money in a white car and drove away with more than $2 million, according to court documents. Prosecutors said the money was taken to a home and divided into thirds.

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Johnson and Jones were arrested days later. The third suspect has not been arrested. U.S. Attorney’s office spokeswoman Terri Dougherty said about $750,000 of the stolen money was recovered.

The heist is believed to be the second-biggest ever in St. Louis. In 2010, $6.4 million was taken in a gunpoint heist from the office of ATM Solutions, a company that serviced and stocked cash dispensers. About half of that money was later recovered. Several people involved in that crime are now in prison.

Jim Salter, The Associated Press