Man accused in robbery spree pleads not guilty
Ware, 66, faces 17 charges involving more than a dozen robberies
A robbery suspect facing
17 state and federal felony charges pleaded not guilty to eight of them at a hearing Thursday in Texarkana’s downtown federal building.
Troy Lee Ware, 66, is accused of robbing more than a dozen businesses in 2017, including two banks, in Texarkana, Texas, and Texarkana, Ark. Ware appeared Thursday morning with Texarkana lawyer Josh Potter for arraignment on an eight-count federal indictment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline Craven.
Josh Potter entered pleas of not guilty to one count of armed bank robbery, three counts of armed robbery involving Texarkana, Texas, businesses and four companion counts of carrying or brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Ann Cozby said the government is seeking Ware’s detention but Josh Potter waived the issue and Ware remains in custody.
In March 2018, Ware pleaded not guilty to nine felony charges filed by prosecutors serving Miller County, Ark., with the help of Texarkana lawyer Tommy Potter. Those cases are pending before Circuit Judge Brent Haltom and Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Connie Mitchell is representing the state.
Ware’s state charges include seven aggravated robbery charges and two aggravated assault charges in connection with robberies of businesses in 2017 in Texarkana, Ark.
Ware is accused of robbing a Texarkana, Ark., branch of Bancorp South
on Feb. 16, 2017. Ware is charged with robbing the Fast & Low convenience store in Texarkana, Ark., on two dates in 2017: April 24 and Dec. 9. Ware allegedly robbed an Exxon gas station and convenience store June 9, 2017, in Texarkana, Ark. He is accused of robbing a Family Dollar store on Oct. 24, 2017, in Texarkana, Ark., and Texas Liquor on Oct. 27, 2017, in Texarkana, Ark. The assault charges are alleged to have occurred on the same dates as the bank and liquor store robberies.
Ware is facing up to six years on each of the assault charges and 10 to 40 years or life on each of the aggravated robberies.
Ware is accused in his federal indictment in the Texarkana Division of the Eastern District of Texas of holding up a Wells Fargo bank branch April 26, 2017, in Texarkana, Texas. Ware allegedly got away with more than $5,000 of the bank’s cash.
Ware allegedly took more than $5,000 during a Dec. 18, 2017, robbery of the Tobacco Store on New Boston Road in Texarkana, Texas. Ware allegedly robbed the Potato Patch restaurant Dec. 23, 2017, on State Line Avenue in Texarkana, Texas. The indictment does not indicate how much if any money was taken during the Potato Patch stickup.
The same day Ware allegedly robbed the Potato Patch, he allegedly held up the Shamrock gas station and convenience store on Richmond Road in Texarkana, Texas. That crime allegedly netted $80.
Each of the four robberies alleged to have occurred in Texarkana, Texas, is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison, a fine up to $250,000, or both. Each of the four weapons charges is punishable by no less than five years and a fine up to $250,000. If the firearm was brandished, as is alleged, the minimum punishment increases to seven years. Any term imposed for using a firearm in the course of a robbery must be served consecutively to the underlying offense.
Ware’s federal case is scheduled for jury selection July 22 before U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder III. He is scheduled to appear next month before Haltom on the state charges.
Ware, who has a lengthy criminal history, was serving a five-year term of felony probation for theft of property, which he was assessed April 25, 2016, in Miller County at the time of his arrest on the Arkansas robbery charges. According to a probable cause affidavit in that case, Ware falsely reported that his 2008 Cadillac Escalade had been stolen and received a $14,035.13 settlement from his insurance company. Ware had actually left the Cadillac at an impound lot in Wenden, Ariz., after it broke down. Ware made arrangements for the owner of the impound lot to repair the car, but he never returned for it.
A motion to revoke Ware’s probation is pending in Miller County and could mean additional time behind bars.