Jacob L. Smith, 19, Kansas City, Kansas, was sentenced Monday to 25 years in federal prison for a bank robbery in which he shot at law enforcement officers during a high-speed chase, U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said.
Co-defendant Danille Morris, 27, Kansas City, Kansas, whose 19-month child was with her in the getaway car, was sentenced to 16.6 years.
Smith pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery and one count of brandishing a firearm. Morris pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery, one count of brandishing a firearm and one count of unlawfully possessing a firearm following a felony conviction.
In his plea, Smith admitted that on March 9, 2016, he and co-defendant Gary Jordan, 40, Kansas City, Kansas, brandished handguns when they entered the First National Bank at 7460 W. 199th St. in Stilwell, Kan. They held tellers at gunpoint before fleeing with cash stuffed in a backpack. Jordan took the wheel of the getaway car.
During the next 25 minutes, the robbers were pursued by the Kansas Highway Patrol, the Leawood Police Department and other law enforcement agencies as they fled across the Kansas-Missouri state line.
During the chase, Smith fired at officers six times from the car. After the car overturned on a sharp turn, the defendants were arrested. Throughout the chase, Morris and her 19-month-old child were in the car.
Beall commended all the agencies that assisted in the investigation including the FBI, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, the Kansas Highway Patrol, the Leawood Police Department, the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department and the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, as well as the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Oakley.