Raytown Man Sentenced to 14 Years for Armed Robberies of Brink’s Truck, Bank, and Restaurant

KANSAS CITY—David M. Ketchmark, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Raytown, Missouri man has been sentenced in federal court for his role in the armed robbery of a Brink’s truck, as well as the armed robberies of a bank and a restaurant.

Deangelo Colston, 22, of Raytown, was sentenced on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 by U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner to 14 years and three months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Colston to pay $79,649 in restitution.

On October 5, 2011, Colston pleaded guilty to participating in three armed robberies and to brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.

Co-defendants Gerald Jones, 22, of Raytown, Missouri, and Larry Platt, 22, of Grandview, Missouri, have also pleaded guilty to their roles in the Brink’s truck robbery. Jones also pleaded guilty to the bank and restaurant robberies and to one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. Sentencing hearings for Jones and Platt are scheduled in July.

Colston, Jones, and Platt have each admitted that they stole $130,000 at gunpoint from two Brink’s Inc. employees who were delivering money to an ATM at the Bank of America at 3100 Main in Kansas City, Missouri on August 30, 2010.

According to court documents, the Brink’s armored vehicle was parked in the bank’s drive-through at about 2:30 p.m. on August 30, 2010. The driver remained in the vehicle while another Brink’s employee serviced the ATM. Jones, Colston, and Platt exited a vehicle that was parked next to the drive-through. One of the men pointed a semi-automatic handgun at the driver of the armored vehicle while two men held semi-automatic handguns on the second Brink’s employee, who was opening the ATM. The Brink’s employee, who felt a gun pressed against his left ear and another at the back of his head, held both of his hands up. The armed robbers took two bags, one of which contained $130,000 in $20 bills and the other paperwork, then fled in a Ford SUV.

Law enforcement officers received an anonymous tip on September 9, 2010 identifying Colston and Jones as two of the armed robbers. The caller said that Colston and Jones had spent approximately $2,500 taking a crew to Worlds of Fun, had been spending money at Independence Center, and that Jones had just purchased a Dodge Charger. Jones and Colston were arrested during a traffic stop the next day, September 10, 2010. Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at the residence where Jones and Colston were staying and discovered a pillowcase containing 10 stacks of $20 bills banded together, a backpack containing 33 stacks of $20 bills bundled together, another pillowcase containing two stacks of $20 bills bundled together, and a loaded Jimenez Arms 9mm semi-automatic handgun. Law enforcement officers searched Colston’s cell phone and obtained enough information to locate Platt.

Colston and Jones also admitted that they stole $1,055 at gunpoint from Hillcrest Bank at 5901 W. 107th St. in Overland Park, Kansas on July 8, 2010. They also stole $3,669 at gunpoint from the Buca de Beppo Restaurant at 310 W. 47th St. in Kansas City, Missouri on August 2, 2009.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David A. Barnes. It was investigated by the FBI; the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department; the Raytown, Missouri Police Department; and the Independence, Missouri Police Department.