Armored truck driver robbed, but he’s guilty of same crimes as gunmen, prosecutor says
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It took a jury eight minutes to convict a man arrested on federal charges connected to the robbery of an armored cash truck in North Charleston, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
But the heist Terry Tyrone Pollard and his co-defendants participated in was really an inside job, and the armored truck driver was in on the scheme to steal nearly $2 million, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a Wednesday news release.
Pollard, a 27-year-old Cedartown, Georgia, resident, was the only defendant to go to trial. Fellow Cedartown residents Quantavius Murphy, 22, Anthony Burge, 24, and Thomas Calhoun, 21, previously pleaded guilty to bank larceny and conspiracy to commit bank larceny charges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Cedartown is about 60 miles west of Atlanta, and more than 360 miles from North Charleston.
The armored truck driver, James Sewell, also pleaded guilty to the charges, according to the release. The 27-year-old North Charleston resident recruited Pollard and the others to stage the robbery, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
The phony armed robbery happened in January 2021, according to the release.
After formulating the plan over Snapchat, Pollard, Murphy, Burge, and Calhoun traveled from Cedartown to Sewell’s apartment in North Charleston on Jan. 15, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Later that day, they drove around North Charleston looking for the best location to stage the theft.
On Jan. 16, Sewell parked his Garda truck full of money outside an ATM in North Charleston, and Pollard and the other co-defendants approached and pretended to restrain him at gunpoint, according to the release. They then loaded $1.9 million in cash into black trash bags and immediately headed back to Cedartown, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Investigators found the cellphone numbers for the men and obtained cell site location data from service providers, which confirmed the time and locations where they traveled, according to the release.
Several hours after the robbery, Calhoun posted a Snapchat video of Pollard holding a large stack of stolen cash in front of his face, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
That social media post might have factored in the jury returning such a quick verdict, as they found Pollard guilty of bank larceny and conspiracy to commit bank larceny, according to the release.
Although there was no real violence in this robbery, U.S. Attorney Adair Boroughs said “prosecuting violent crime is one of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s top (priorities).”
U.S. District Judge Bruce Hendricks presided over the trial and will sentence Pollard and his co-defendants at a later date. Pollard faces a maximum punishment of 10 years in federal prison, and a $500,000 fine in addition to restitution for money stolen during the incident, according to the release. There is no parole in the federal system.
The case was investigated by the FBI, the North Charleston Police Department, and the Cedartown Police Department.
“The FBI is committed to thoroughly investigating violent crime, to include armored car robberies, and pursuing all who perpetrate those offenses,” Paul “Reid” Davis, acting special agent in charge of the FBI Columbia field office, said in the release.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chris Lietzow, Emily Limehouse, and Allessandra Stewart prosecuted the case. Information about the attorneys who represented Pollard, Sewell, Murphy, Burge, and Calhoun was not available.
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This story was originally published March 23, 2023 at 12:59 PM.
