Jury finds men guilty in bank robbery

Ivin Cornelious, Jovone Gordon also guilty of theft, conspiracy in Kennett Square heist

The freedom two men had enjoyed since they were charged three years ago with a bank robbery in Kennett Square ended Friday when a Common Pleas Court jury found the pair guilty of the crime the lead prosecutor called “arrogant and violent.”

Ivin William Cornelious and Jovone Larome Gordon were found guilty of robbery, theft and conspiracy in the case that involved a March 2020 robbery at the S&T Bank in the southern Chester County borough. The jury of eight woman and four men deliberated about two hours before returning with their verdict around 5 p.m.

After accepting the verdict, which came after four days of testimony, Judge Analisa Sondergaard revoked the pair’s bail and they were taken into custody by deputy sheriffs. They are currently being held in Chester County Prison awaiting sentencing.

The robbery changes are second-degree felonies that carry a maximum imprisonment of five to 10 years in state prison.

The case put on by Deputy District Attorney Kate Wright and her co-counsel, Assistant District Attorney Sara Johnson, was built by Kennett Square police Sergeant Christopher Gravina and his colleagues on exclusively circumstantial evidence. No witnesses were able to identify the man who entered the bank branch on East Cypress Street wearing a hooded sweatshirt tied around his face and a mask, announcing, “This is a robbery, bitch” and pushing a female teller aside.

Defense attorneys in the case — Assistant Public Defenders Stewart Paintin and Andrew Quist for Cornelious and attorney Michael Noone of West Chester for Gordon — argued that the lack of first-hand evidence involving their clients should be enough for the panel to find a reasonable doubt of their participation, enough to acquit them.

They called the prosecution’s assertion that their clients had been in Kennett Square that day “conjecture” and speculation. No one could testify they saw either man in the borough the day or the robbery, and evidence that tied them to a car used as a getaway did not mean they were using it at the time.

But investigators were able to connect the men to the crime through DNA evidence, fingerprints, cell phone records and video surveillance — as well as old fashioned police instincts. Indeed, one of the two cars used in the heist was spotted by an alert officer, Lt. Kenneth Rongaus, parked day after day in the same spot in the borough, and he

noted its license plate. The same car was also reported by former Police Chief Albert McCarthy parked in front of his home. He also reported it as suspicious to police.

“This case has a lot of details,” said Wright in her opening statement. “And the devil is in the details. There are small pieces to put together, but we will put them all together for you so you know who did this.”

According to a criminal complaint filed in April 2021 Gravina, the robbery occurred at the bank around 8:30 a.m. on March 5, 2020, just as it was opening for the day.

Bank employees reported that an unknown man arrived at the bank in a Chrysler 300, entered the bank, vaulted the counter and demanded cash. When a 62-year-old teller approached him the man he told her, “This is a robbery, bitch.” Another teller stood by in fear of her life as he took cash from their drawers then fled out the front door, where he got into the passenger side of the Chrysler. The car was discovered abandoned about two blocks away.

The robber got away with about $10,000, Gravina said.

Surveillance of the area discovered video of a Ford Crown Victoria in the area of Church Alley and Juniper Street, idling and circling the block — the same car that had been noted by police earlier. After the robbery, the Ford was seen on East Cypress Street passing the bank. It was later discovered in Wilmington, Del.

DNA testing from both cars showed that Gordon’s DNA was found on a water bottle found in the Ford, as well as from its gear shifter and steering wheel. Cornelious’ DNA was found on the water bottle as well, and on a brandy bottle found inside, and its steering wheel. Also found inside the Ford was a receipt showing that Gordon paid Cornelious $1,000 of the $1,500 he owned him.

Surveillance video from the area showed that the Chrysler and the Ford had been in Kennett Square in the days leading up to the robbery, with the Ford being spotted the day before. A check of phone records showed that someone using Gordon’s phone had been in Kennett Square on Feb. 27, 2020, Feb. 29, 2020, and March 4, 2020. They also showed him in Kennett on March 5, 2020, the date of the robbery.