Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael B. Steinbach, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, John A. Bolduc, Chief, Port St. Lucie Police Department, Kenneth Mascara, St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, J. Michelle Morris, Chief, Sebastian Police Department, and Deryl Loar, Sheriff, Indian River Sheriff’s Office, announce the arrest and detention of Raven Simone Sayers, 23, of Hallandale, FL. Sayers made her initial appearance on Sept. 26, 2013, and was ordered detained pending trial as both a risk of flight and danger to the community by U.S. Magistrate Judge Frank J. Lynch, Jr. in Ft. Pierce. She is scheduled for arraignment on Friday October 4, 2013.
The criminal complaint charged Sayers with conspiracy to obstruct, delay, or affect commerce or the movement of any article or commodity in commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act), in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951; and conspiracy to use and carry a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 924(o) and 924(c). If convicted of the Hobbs Act robbery conspiracy, Sayers faces a possible maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison. If convicted of the conspiracy to use and carry a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, Sayers faces a mandatory minimum of seven years, and a possible maximum sentence of life, in prison, consecutive to any other sentence imposed.
According to the criminal complaint, on July 8, 2013, the PNC Bank, located in Fort Pierce, Florida, and PNC Bank in Port St. Lucie, Florida were robbed almost simultaneously at gunpoint by groups of black males wearing white clothing and white cloth masks. In each robbery, the groups of males fled in mini vans stolen earlier that morning. One group, was apprehended after a police chase that ended near the intersection of Port St. Lucie Boulevard and Aster Road in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Upon execution of a state search warrant on the white Chrysler sedan, a large amount of currency, a semi-automatic handgun, several cellular phones, cloth gloves, and numerous articles of clothing, consistent with what the bank robbers wore during the robbery of the PNC Bank in Fort Pierce, Florida, was recovered. The driver Tomaleesha Jeffie Laqua McKeliver, and the three passengers, Anthony Isaac Johnson, Allan Demetrius Bradford, and Ivory Lee Robinson, III were arrested and transported to the Port St. Lucie Police Department.
The criminal complaint also states that shortly after two of the males fled the PNC Bank in Port St. Lucie, Florida, the third became momentarily trapped inside, and was observed removing clothing as he fled. A bag containing money was recovered near the PNC Bank, and Paul Edward Moore was arrested nearby and transported to the Port St. Lucie Police Department. With the exception of Moore, the other individuals involved in the PNC Bank in Port St. Lucie, Florida, remained at large.
During Sayers’ detention hearing, an FBI Agent testified that Sayers was implicated as part of the West Palm Beach group that traveled to St. Lucie County for the specific purpose of robbing PNC banks. According to the agent, Sayers was identified as the second getaway driver, and that cell tower records place Sayers in close proximity to both of the St. Lucie County PNC banks, prior to the gun point robberies, and near the site of the minivan thefts. Testimony also revealed that Sayers was in cell phone contact with at least three of the five co-defendants, around the time of the two St. Lucie County bank robberies. The FBI agent also testified that there is a West Palm Beach Walmart video showing Sayers purchasing gloves, consistent with those worn by the robbers during the two St. Lucie County PNC bank robberies.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI, Port St. Lucie Police Department, St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, and the Sebastian Police Department for their work on this case. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carmen Lineberger.
A criminal complaint is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
