May 25, 11

NEWS / Wichita Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for Robbing Oklahoma Fidelity Bank in Edmond

Life Sentence Ordered Under “Three Strikes” Law

OKLAHOMA CITY—Today, MARK EUGENE JOHNSON, 54, of Wichita, Kansas, was sentenced to life imprisonment for robbing the Oklahoma Fidelity Bank in Edmond on January 22, 2010, announced Sanford C. Coats, United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma.

“Law-abiding citizens should not continue to be victimized by recidivist criminals who are not deterred by repeated arrests and convictions. The purpose for the Three Strikes law is to take these most dangerous repeat offenders out of our community permanently,” said U.S. Attorney Coats.

Johnson was convicted of the bank robbery after a two-day federal jury trial in January 2011. Evidence at trial showed that Johnson entered the Oklahoma Fidelity Bank at 1127 East Second Street in Edmond around 9:30 a.m. on January 22, 2010. He approached a female teller and showed her a device he called a detonator. Johnson demanded money from the teller and threatened to mash the detonator. The teller handed Johnson money from her teller drawer. Johnson left the detonator on the teller counter and walked out of the bank. Evidence at trial also showed that minutes after the robbery, Edmond Police officers took Johnson into custody on the campus of the University of Central Oklahoma. He and his clothing matched the bank employees’ description of the robber. At the bank, bomb technicians with the Edmond Police Department examined the detonator and determined the device was a hoax.

Today, Johnson was sentenced as a “Three Strikes” offender under federal law. United States District Judge Joe Heaton sentenced Johnson to mandatory life imprisonment based on Johnson’s 2010 bank robbery and two earlier Kansas convictions for serious violent felonies. In addition to life imprisonment, Johnson must pay $535 in restitution to the Edmond bank.

This case was the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Edmond Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chris M. Stephens and David L. Walling.

http://oklahomacity.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel11/ok052411.htm