Ronald Jabriel Robinson, 19, of Douglasville was on the calendar to appear before Judge Aubrey Duffey to determine if a bond would be appropriate.
The man’s attorney, public defender Becky Dembkowski, announced that her client was no longer being confined at the Carroll County jail.
Assistant District Attorney Herb Cranford said that details were sparse, but that the case had been turned over to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“The feds called us and told us they were going to take the case,” Cranford said. “That’s all I really know now.”
Robinson is one of three men indicted for the November robbery of the SunTrust branch on Highway 61 in Villa Rica, in which nearly $7,000 was taken.
The other two men, Anthony Rasul Garrett, 20, of Douglasville, and Curtis Lavert Raiford, 20, of Hampton, were also moved from Carroll County jail.
All three men were indicted on charges of armed robbery, criminal conspiracy, possession of a firearm and obstruction of an officer, with Robinson also being charged with attempting to flee or elude an officer.
Garrett and Raiford allegedly walked into the branch just before the bank closed at noon and produced a handgun, said Capt. Jeff Richards of the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office. Robinson, Richards said, was waiting in the getaway car outside the bank.
As two suspects left the bank after the robbery to meet their car, an eyewitness alerted officials. Two deputies in the area, Steve Young and Justin Moore, began giving chase, joined soon after by several other officers, including Villa Rica police.
The suspects were pursued into Douglas County, exiting Interstate 20 onto Post Road, where they bailed out of their car after crashing it. Two suspects were caught immediately by Carroll County officers, with the third caught in the woods by a Douglas County Sheriff’s Office canine unit after a perimeter had been set up.
Police said Robinson was driving more than 100 miles per hour in a 70-mph zone.
Also in court Thursday:
• The restitution hearing for the Clem woman who pleaded guilty last year to insurance fraud and operating a chop shop was set for March 1.
Karmen Ann Barber, who was indicted on 21 counts of 10 different charges, many of which were dismissed in consideration of her guilty plea, pleaded guilty last October, being sentenced to five years of probation and a $5,000 fine.
Barber was ordered to pay $14,500 in restitution, along with an additional restitution amount that was first set to be determined in December. Since then, it’s been delayed at least once, now being scheduled for March 1 at 11 a.m.
Barber is the daughter of Clyde Henry Puckett, who is currently facing charges in Carroll County for allegedly killing his son-in-law, Barber’s husband, in 2011.
The woman pleaded guilty to forgery in the first degree, theft by deception, theft by taking, operating a chop shop and fraudulent insurance claims. Other charges, including arson in the first degree and theft by receiving, were dismissed in consideration of the her guilty plea.
As the factual basis for the charges, Assistant District Attorney Anne Allen said Barber had taken insurance out on the building of her automotive repair shop, Auto Group Inc., without making it known that the shop had actually burned down the night before.
As for the chop shop charge, Barber is accused of installing a stolen motor into a 2004 Ford Explorer for a customer, as well as reassembling a Pontiac Fiero into a kit car that was supposed to be street-legal, but was actually unable to be driven lawfully on Georgia streets.
Barber is also alleged to have forged a co-worker’s signature on Department of Family and Children Services paperwork to get food stamps, but Allen said the state is not pursuing a welfare fraud charge in consideration of her guilty plea.
Barber is represented by Carrollton attorney Gary Bunch.
• A man convicted of murder in connection with a drug deal gone bad in 2008 had his motion for a retrial continued again.
Willie Deon Daniel, 24, of Carrollton was convicted of felony murder, aggravated assault and armed robbery in 2010 in connection with the fatal shooting of Clarence McGhee, 26, of Atlanta on May 18, 2008.
Daniel was supposed to appear in court Thursday with his attorney, a public defender from Atlanta, to make a motion for a new trial, but the motion was continued.
Daniel had the motion for new trial continued last August, eventually landing on yesterday’s calendar, at which time the motion was continued again.
Assistant District Attorney John Cunningham said the motion was “super standard” and would probably be handled at the next non-jury date Judge John Simpson has scheduled, which is set for March 28.
Daniel was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences by Simpson in 2010.
Daniel and Lorenzo Helton, 19, of Carrollton were both arrested after the two allegedly teamed up to rob McGhee and his girlfriend, Penny Parham, 27, of Adairsville.
A third man, Christopher Barber, 23, of Carrollton, allegedly arranged for the couple through a telephone call to meet that night on Henson Circle to sell approximately a pound of marijuana, Carroll County Sheriff’s investigators said.
Authorities said when the couple arrived around 11:35 p.m., Daniel and Helton were allegedly hiding in the dark waiting to rob the couple. When the couple met Daniel and Helton, a confrontation erupted and McGhee was shot in the back.