Robber of bank in Walmart sentenced to 14 years

Late in the afternoon of May 12, Oklahoma City police responded to a disturbance call near the West Village Apartments at 835 W Sheridan Ave.

It was around 4:35 p.m. when Brandon Scott Newberry, 39, of Guthrie, told the responding police officer there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest in Muskogee County. However, the warrant was a “no extradition” warrant, so the police officer, at Newberry's request, dropped of f Newberry around 5:40 p.m. in the area of a McDonald's at 9001 NE 23.

Authorities provided the following account of Newberry's actions:

Newberry wore a red University of Oklahoma sweatshirt and blue jeans.

One minute later, New berry walked into a nearby W al mart Supercenter.

About eight minutes later, Newberry was seen wearing a blue and gray baseball cap, and carrying a yellow piece of paper in his left hand.

Two minutes later, Newberry entered City National

Bank and Trust within the Newberry Walmart,

and waited behind two customers.

Six minutes later, Newberry told a teller, who was assisting a customer: “I'm robbing you. I have a gun in my waistband.”

He pushed the yellow note toward the teller. The note read: “I have a gun in my waist! Give me all the money in your register with no GPS, Die Packs or tracking devices!”

The teller pulled $3,070 out of his drawer and handed it to Newberry.

The robbery was caught on Walmart surveillance footage, according to a criminal complaint affidavit for Newberry's arrest.

Later that night, Newberry showed up at t he Oklahoma County Crisis Intervention Center on the west side of town and admitted he robbed the bank.

Three days later, with an arrest warrant inhand, authorities arrested Newberry, who possessed $2,300 in cash. On June 3, a federal grand jury returned a onecount indictment charging Newberry with the robbery.

On Aug. 19, Newberry pleaded guilty to the indictment.

On Feb. 4, U.S. District Judge Scott L. Palk sentenced Newberry to serve 169 months in federal prison, or a little more than 14 years, followed by three years of supervised release.

Palk also ordered Newberry to pay $770 in restitution, representing the amount of stolen money not recovered by law enforcement.

At sentencing, Palk noted Newberry's “continued propensity to engage in criminal activity despite his prior felony convictions, including convictions of murder and robbery,” the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Newberry's lawbreaking history and prison time goes back more than 20 years, including a “criminal murder” conviction under Texas law.

In 2017, New berry pleaded guilty to grand larceny in Oklahoma County, and guilty to possession of a stolen vehicle and seconddegree robbery in Tulsa County.