After the jump, courtesy the U.S. Attorney's Office the story of Dallas's Freddy Lee Foots, a 51-year-old today sentenced to more than 29 years for robbing an armed car -- and using some of the loot to buy a used Mercedes. But the story does not yet have an ending: Donald Ray Williams, Foots' comrade in armed robbery -- the one in 2007 and at least two others in the 1980s -- remains at large with the FBI on the lookout in, among other places, East Dallas, his last known address. But this interesting detail, among many from a media release that reads like an Elmore Leonard dust-jacket synopsis: "On the day of that robbery, April 6, 1988, Foots went to Neiman Marcus in Dallas and purchased thousands of dollars of clothing." --Robert Wilonsky
DALLAS MAN SENTENCED FOR COMMITTING ARMORED CAR ROBBERY
DALLAS — Freddy Lee Foots, 51, of Dallas, was sentenced today before U. S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle to 350 months (over 29 years) in federal prison and $1,349,212.90 restitution, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas. Foots was also required to forfeit a 2005 Mercedes-Benz vehicle he purchased with the proceeds of the offense. Foots was convicted in June, by a federal jury, of committing an armored car robbery on September 5, 2007.
Foots and co-defendant Donald Ray Williams were charged in a superseding indictment with interference with commerce by threats or violence - “Hobbs Act” and using carrying, and brandishing a firearm during or in relation to a crime of violence in relation to the armored car robbery. Williams, whose last known address is in East Dallas, remains a fugitive, and anyone with information regarding his whereabouts is asked to call the FBI at 972.559.5000.
Foots was arrested after a long distance, high-speed vehicle chase that ended in Van Horn, Texas, on September 14, 2007, after he and others robbed a Loomis armored car on September 5, 2007, of a substantial amount of money. More than $400,000 in cash was found in the trunk of his 2005 Mercedes-Benz when he was arrested. Another $145,00 was found in the vehicle that was accompanying him. A total of $1,977,952 was stolen in the armored car robbery.
The government presented evidence at trial that while a Loomis armored car was at Compass Bank at 1824 Abrams Road making a money drop on September 5, 2007, and a Loomis employee was removing money bags from inside that armored car, a stolen, dark-colored, mini-van pulled up behind the armored car. The side door of the mini-van opened and two suspects, wearing masks, got out of the van, and pointed what appeared to be rifles or assault weapons at the Loomis employee. Fearing for his life, the Loomis employee fled and left the money bags at the scene. The suspects took the bags and fled the location and abandoned the van at Lakewood Library, on Worth Street in East Dallas.
Evidence at trial showed that during the week immediately following the armored car robbery, Foots spent thousands of dollars on new clothing and shoes in and around the Dallas area. He also purchased a Mercedes-Benz S 55 AMG on September 8, 2005, paying cash, and on September 11, 2007, he paid cash for a 2007 Cadillac.
The government also presented evidence at trial that in 1981 Freddy Lee Foots and co-defendant Donald Ray Williams robbed a bank in Dallas, Texas and Foots received a 15 year sentence. The government also presented that in 1988, Foots, and his co-defendant Williams, participated in another Loomis armored car robbery in Dallas, virtually identical to this one. They were both armed with long guns that they pointed at the two Loomis employees. They took approximately $1.1 million from the armored car and fled from the scene. Both Foots and Williams were arrested the next day. Foots pled guilty to his role in the robbery and was sentenced to 240 months in prison. He was released from federal custody approximately two years ago. On the day of that robbery, April 6, 1988, Foots went to Neiman Marcus in Dallas and purchased thousands of dollars of clothing.
U.S. Attorney Roper and Robert E. Casey, Jr., Special Agent in Charge, Dallas FBI, thank the public who contacted the FBI and the Dallas Police Department and provided significant information. They also express their appreciation to the Dallas Police Department, the Culberson County Sheriff’s Office, the Reeves County Sheriff’s Office, FBI El Paso, Texas, and all other law enforcement agencies that have assisted in this investigation.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Calvert.
