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Former teacher pleads guilty in bank robbery
Jeremy McKnight/For The Herald-Dispatch Former Kanawha County middle school teacher Melissa Brown, at left, leaves the Federal Courthouse with her mother on Thursday, July 17, 2008.
Purchase this photoHUNTINGTON — A former middle school art teacher testified Thursday that she did not know her brother planned to rob a Charleston bank until after it happened.
Melissa A. Brown, 28, testified at a hearing in which she pleaded guilty to two counts of aiding and abetting bank robbery. The woman, who faces up to 40 years in prison and a $500,000 fine, was released on a $10,000 bond until sentencing in October.
The allegations involve two bank robberies in April. The first happened at City National Bank in Charleston. Six days later, a robbery occurred at First Sentry Bank in Barboursville.
The assailants took a combined $6,561. Police arrested Brown and her brother along Interstate 64. A construction zone slowed the getaway vehicle, making the arrest possible.
Brown told the court she drove her brother from both scenes. She never recalled being fully aware of his intentions.
The defendant testified her brother said he wanted to cash a check. She drove him to the Charleston bank. He returned to the car anxious, with an urgency to leave. She noticed a bulge in one pocket.
Brown had a strong suspicion her brother had robbed the bank, but she never wanted to admit it to herself. She read about the robbery in the next day’s newspaper.
Federal prosecutor Lisa G. Johnston said Brown’s recollection of the Charleston robbery did not match earlier statements to investigators.
FBI Special Agent Jeffrey Long testified Brown told investigators she had discussed the Charleston robbery with her brother 15 minutes prior to the incident.
Brown did not verbally challenge Long’s testimony. She said it was substantially correct. Defense attorneys John H. Tinney Jr. and Sean W. Cook concurred.
“It’s obviously a very traumatic time for her, and giving testimony in her own guilty plea hearing is not an easy thing for anyone to do,” Tinney said. “It’s not uncommon for the versions of the testimony to be slightly different.”
Brown testified she immediately thought her brother was going to rob the Barboursville bank when he told her to stop at the bank.
Tinney said their side is satisfied with the plea agreement, and it was in her best interest. He said Brown was trying to help her brother with a problem. He believes generosity led to her involvement.
“At the time she had good intentions, but made bad decisions,” he said. “She is a young lady who made a terrible mistake and realizes that.”
Long testified a witness spotted the duo’s red Chevrolet Cavalier leave the bank. The witness followed the car onto Interstate 64. The witnessed watched Brown’s brother unwrap a scarf from his face. That assistance led to the arrests.
Long testified investigators recovered $4,256 from the Cavalier’s glove box. That was one dollar shy of total amount taken from the Barboursville bank.
Brown’s plea agreement forces her to pay back at least part of the $2,304 stolen the Charleston bank. She paid that amount in full after Thursday’s hearing, her attorneys said.
Cook fought for Brown’s conditional release from jail. He told the court his client does not pose a danger to the community. He said she has accepted responsibility, pledged to cooperate with authorities, and promised to pay restitution in full.
Johnston did not object to Brown’s release, and U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers granted the request.
Brown was ordered to stay with her parents in Louisa, Ky., until her Oct. 14 sentencing date. She will be confined to the residence and electronic monitoring will ensure her compliance.
The defendant’s brother, Jeremy Mark Brown, is scheduled to stand trial Aug. 19.\
Melissa Brown’s was an art teacher at Stonewall Jackson Middle School in Charleston. She has been suspended without pay since her arrest, said Jim Withrow, general counsel for Kanawha County Schools. Her name no longer appears the faculty page of the school’s Web site.
Withrow said a felony conviction is grounds for termination under state law. He anticipates the local school board will consider her termination at its next regularly scheduled meeting.
