COLUMBUS – A Columbus man was sentenced today for robbing a
bank in Whitehall, pistol-whipping two of the bank’s employees while demanding
money, and conspiring with his girlfriend to hide the gun he used in the
robbery.
Robert K. Mason, 43, was sentenced to 240 months in prison.
According to court documents, Mason robbed the Huntington
Bank at 4550 East Broad Street on Sept. 26, 2018. Mason walked in the bank,
lifted his shirt to show that he had a gun, pulled the handgun and ordered
customers to the floor. Mason vaulted the counter and demanded money from the
tellers, hitting two of them with the gun when he became frustrated at the
speed of the employees.
Mason ran out the front door and escaped in a car driven by
his girlfriend, Bretta L. Nallen. Whitehall police arrested Mason on Oct. 31,
2018. While he was in custody, he called Nallen and told her to get rid of the
gun. Nallen was charged with being an accessory to the crime and evidence
tampering. She pleaded guilty to the accessory charge in August 2019.
Mason pleaded guilty in April 2019 to one count of bank
robbery, one count of using a firearm during a crime of violence and one count
of conspiracy to tamper with evidence.
“Mason is a career criminal who has committed a number of
violent offenses,” U.S. Attorney David M. DeVillers said. “That’s exactly the
type of offender we prioritize prosecuting in this office. Mason earned his
time in federal prison.”
DeVillers, Joseph Deters, Acting Special Agent in Charge,
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division, Columbus Division
of Police Acting Chief Thomas Quinlan and Whitehall Police Chief Mike Crispen
announced the sentence imposed today by U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus,
Jr.
Assistant United States Attorney S. Courter Shimeall is
representing the United States in this case.
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