Mannford woman involved in bank heist gets added time for heroin sales
BY DAVID HARPER World Staff Writer
Thursday, February 21, 2013
2/22/13 at 10:46 PM
A Mannford woman who originally received probation for her role in an “inside-job” theft from a Sand Springs bank was sentenced Thursday to eight months in prison in a heroin case.
Brooke Ashley Braswell, 23, pleaded guilty Oct. 22 in Tulsa federal court to distributing heroin on Aug. 20 and Aug. 22.
A document filed by the U.S. Probation Office alleged that Braswell distributed the drug to an undercover Tulsa police officer on those two days.
Braswell was one of three defendants who were sentenced to probation in February 2012 for a theft from the IBC Bank at 3402 S. Oklahoma 97 on June 14, 2011, that was made possible because one of the other defendants worked at the bank at the time.
Braswell admitted in November 2011 that she was the getaway driver in the heist.
U.S. Chief District Judge Gregory Frizzell sentenced her Sept. 28 to a year and a half in prison after she admitted violating the terms of her probation in the bank case.
Frizzell told Braswell that she had received a “great gift” when the U.S. Attorney’s Office downgraded the earlier charge from bank robbery to bank theft, which is treated less severely under federal sentencing guidelines.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Claire Eagan ordered Braswell to serve the eight-month sentence in the heroin case consecutively with the 18-month sentence Frizzell imposed in the bank case last September.
Eagan recommended that Braswell receive drug abuse prevention treatment while in prison and ordered that she undergo drug testing and further counseling during three years of post-custody supervised release.
Braswell's attorney, Scott Troy, told the court that Braswell's demeanor has improved greatly in the months since her arrest last Aug. 28.
Braswell will be expected to pay a $200 penalty as part of the sentence Eagan imposed Thursday.
Associated Images:
Brooke Ashley Braswell
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