A federal jury spent about two hours over two days deliberating before finding Cameron Zayrell Arnold, 30, of Pine Bluff guilty Wednesday of masterminding three bank robberies in Little Rock and Benton that were carried out by other men.
The other two men pleaded guilty to bank robbery charges and agreed to testify against Arnold in the hope that they will receive leniency at sentencing in return. Both said Arnold forced them to commit the robberies and guided them every step of the way.
On Monday, the first day of Arnold's trial in the Little Rock courtroom of U.S. District Judge Leon Holmes, the 10-woman, two-man jury heard from Keyontae Johnson, 19, of Pine Bluff, who admitted robbing a U.S. Bank branch at 5200 Kavanaugh Blvd. in Little Rock on May 13, 2014, and a Benton branch of Bank of the Ozarks two days later.
Johnson said he hadn't known Arnold very long when the older man lent him $2,100 so he could rent a tuxedo and buy other items to attend his high school prom. He said Arnold then demanded that he pay back double that amount -- $4,200 -- in a matter of days, and instructed him to rob a bank to repay the loan.
Johnson testified that Arnold told him to go into the U.S. Bank branch and ask a specific woman if he could open a bank account, and then rob the woman. Johnson said Arnold provided him with a gray Cadillac, equipped with a loaded .357-caliber revolver under the passenger seat, to drive to the bank and use as a getaway car.
Johnson told jurors he had never been to Little Rock and didn't know his way around but that Arnold directed him by cellphone from a black Honda that guided him to Little Rock. He said Arnold, who was in the Honda with a girlfriend, showed him where to park the Cadillac, gave him instructions about keeping his head down and pretending to talk on his cellphone when he entered the branch, and told him when to pull out the gun. Johnson testified that the woman he was looking for wasn't there, so he had to improvise. A bank video jurors watched showed him waving the gun at more than one employee.
Johnson said Arnold told him to run out of the bank with the cash and throw it into the Honda, which would be parked next to the Cadillac and have its motor running, and then drive away in the Cadillac. Johnson told jurors he pocketed about $500 of the money before throwing the wad of cash into the Honda, where Arnold and the woman waited, and driving away, only to lose track of Arnold's vehicle and become lost.
With his voice shaking, Johnson testified that Arnold soon called him and gave him directions to get back on the highway, where he saw the black Honda and followed it back to Pine Bluff.
Johnson told jurors that the next day, Arnold made him bring a friend who had identification to buy a used car, a gray Ford Taurus, from a White Hall auto dealership.
A day later, on May 15, 2014, Johnson said Arnold told him "he needed me to rob a bank one more time, to be paid up."
He testified that this time, he followed the Honda to a bank in Benton -- he couldn't remember the name -- and carried out the robbery using the same instructions, again getting lost in a neighborhood before rejoining the Honda to head back to Pine Bluff. On the way, however, several police cars corralled both vehicles in a roadblock at the White Hall exit, and arrested Johnson and Arnold. Police said they had been alerted by an anonymous caller that the gray Taurus was headed to a bank robbery.
On Tuesday, jurors heard from Devonta Keshun Piggee, 20, also of Pine Bluff, who relayed a similar tale about being forced to rob an Iberia Bank branch at 4900 W. Markham St. in Little Rock on March 24, 2014, to pay Arnold back for a loan.
In closing arguments Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin O'Leary told jurors that Arnold was the mastermind and the "designer" of all three bank robberies, providing the guns, vehicles and instructions in each instance, as corroborated by records showing his cellphone made calls from areas near the banks to the other men's phones.
Defense attorney Steven Davis of North Little Rock told jurors to consider Arnold's demeanor when he testified on his own behalf, saying, "I don't believe anyone would think Arnold is a mastermind of anything."
But Assistant U.S. Attorney Jana Harris said the lack of sophistication was only indicative of the fact that the actual robbers couldn't have planned the robberies. She pointed out that one of them even wore a sweatshirt with the name of his high school -- Dollarway in Pine Bluff -- on the front.
The jury briefly deliberated Tuesday but went home before reaching a verdict. They resumed deliberations Wednesday and found Arnold guilty.
Sentencing dates for all three men will be set after U.S. probation officers prepare presentence reports for each, detailing each man's background.
Metro on 06/25/2015