Third brother indicted in nearly $87,000 Tulsa bank robbery
BY DAVID HARPER World Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 09, 2012
A federal grand jury has charged an additional defendant with one of the largest bank robberies in recent Oklahoma history.
Dejuan L. Hill, 23, is accused of taking part in the Nov. 5 armed robbery of the Arvest Bank at 218 S. Memorial Drive, during which nearly $87,000 was taken.
His brother Vernon James Hill, 26, was found guilty in Tulsa federal court Feb. 24 of taking part in the heist. The same jury failed to reach a verdict in the case of another brother, 24-year-old Stanley Eugene Hill.
Dejuan Hill reportedly was in the gallery in the Page Belcher Federal Building during his brothers’ trial. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel-lyn McCormick said Wednesday that further analysis of the evidence, including cell phone records, led the prosecution to believe that Dejuan Hill was actually the second man in the bank along with Vernon Hill and that Stanley Hill acted as the getaway driver.
McCormick said a warrant has been issued for Dejuan Hill’s arrest.
One of the two men who entered the bank about 8:30 a.m. Nov. 5 was carrying a small black handgun and demanded that everyone get on the ground, while the other man jumped over the teller counter and demanded money, an FBI affidavit says.
The robbers ordered the employees to open the vault and put its contents in a tan bag with a knot tied in the bottom, the affidavit says. A subsequent audit showed that $86,918.52 was missing after the robbery.
Unbeknownst to the robbers, a GPS tracking device was placed in the “bag of loot,” the affidavit says.
Police were able to track the device to a residence in the 1100 block of East Pine Street. Officers arrived less than five minutes after the GPS device came to rest in the house.
Vernon and Stanley Hill were both arrested as they left the house shortly after 11 a.m. Nov. 5, less than three hours after the heist.
A tan pillowcase with a knot tied in the bottom was found under the oven. The pillowcase contained more than $86,000, a GPS tracking device and “bait bills” the bank had listed as being stolen, according to trial testimony.
U.S. Attorney Scott Woodward, who has handled many of the bank robbery cases prosecuted in federal court in Tulsa in the past 22 years, has said that amount is the most he recalls being taken in a bank robbery in the Tulsa area during that time.
The new indictment accuses Dejuan and Stanley Hill of bank robbery, a related gun crime and conspiring to rob a business engaged in interstate commerce.
Vernon Hill is not named in the latest version of the charges because he has already been convicted. His sentencing is set for June 12.
Stanley Hill had been set for a retrial in about two weeks. However, Wednesday’s new indictment could prompt a delay.
Associated Images:
Dejuan L. Hill
Vernon James Hill
Stanley Eugene Hill
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