FLORENCE — A Lake City man has been sentenced to seven years in prison for armed bank robbery and using a firearm during a crime of violence in connection with the robbery of Carolina Bank in Society Hill, U.S. Attorney W. Walter Wilkins said in a press release issued Friday afternoon.
U.S. District Judge R. Bryan Harwell could have sentenced Raymond Rashad Cooper, 21, of 2992 White Oak Road, to life in prison.
Cooper’s co-defendant, Jarvis McNeal, 23, of 126 Toledo Scales Road, Florence, pleaded guilty to the same charges in March. He is awaiting sentencing and faces life in prison.
The crime happened about 9:30 a.m. July 25, 2007, at the bank at 121 S. Main St.
Once McNeal and Cooper entered the bank, McNeal brandished a pistol, pointed it at tellers and demanded money. Cooper went behind the teller counter and removed money from the cash drawers.
The bank employees were forced to get down on the floor, after which McNeal and Cooper fled out the front door of the bank.
Later that same day, McNeal and Cooper were caught a short distance from the bank. Law enforcement officers recovered the pistol used in the robbery and most of the cash stolen from the bank.
Society Hill police, Darlington County sheriff’s deputies, State Law Enforcement Division’s Crime Scene Unit and FBI investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney A. Bradley Parham of the Florence office is prosecuting the case as part of Project CeaseFire, which seeks to prosecute people who unlawfully use or possess firearms.
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