JASPER MAN CHARGED IN JASPER BANK ROBBERY

BIRMINGHAM, AL - United States Attorney Alice H. Martin of the Northern District of Alabama and Carmen S. Adams, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation announced today that JASON MITCHELL BATES has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Armed Bank Robbery and Using a Firearm During the Commission of a Bank Robbery.

            BATES, 24, of Jasper, Alabama was charged in a two-count indictment filed today at U.  S. District Court in Birmingham.  Count One of the indictment charges BATES with the armed robbery of the Wachovia Bank in Jasper on August 2, 2007.  The maximum sentence for armed bank robbery is twenty five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.  Count Two of the indictment charges BATES with using a firearm during the commission of the bank robbery.  That charge carries a sentence of at least seven years to be served consecutively with any other sentence and a maximum fine of $ 250,000.

            “BATES was connected to this crime through forensic evidence and the testimony of others involved,” stated U.S. Attorney Alice H. Martin.  Special Agents of the FBI and Walker County Sheriff’s Deputies worked together on this case.   Assistant United States Attorney Michael W. Whisonant is prosecuting this case.

            Members of the public are reminded that the indictment contains only charges.  A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.