A Texas man accused with three other men of burglarizing ATM machines in Conway and Benton in 2019 was sentenced to 16 months for his role in the caper and was given credit for 18 months served in federal custody.
Christopher Landelle Burns pleaded guilty in June to two counts of transporting stolen property in interstate commerce and one count of conspiracy to transport stolen U.S. currency before U.S. District Judge Brian Miller. Under U.S. sentencing statutes, Burns faced a maximum of 10 years in prison. Under U.S. sentencing guidelines calculated from a pre-sentencing report prepared by the U.S. Probation office, a sentence range between 10 and 16 months was recommended.
Burns, who appeared from the Greene County jail by video conference, was represented by James Phillips of Little Rock. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bart Dickinson.
Burns, 32, was arrested Jan. 16, 2020, with three other Dallas residents -- Antonio Denard Few, 35; Steven Jadon Williams, 40; and James Darron Miller, 33 -- after a federal grand jury indicted the four, alleging they drove to Oklahoma and Arkansas to break into ATMs in Walmart stores, including in Conway and Benton. Few and Miller entered guilty pleas to all three counts in January.
The four men reportedly embarked on a string of crimes that began in December 2018 and ended in January 2019. Federal authorities said the suspects used vehicles rented in Dallas to travel to the two states, communicating by cellphone to orchestrate the thefts.
At the time of their arrests, authorities seized 15 firearms -- eight handguns and seven rifles -- about $15,000 in cash, a currency counter and several crowbars, bolt cutters and heavy-gauge cables with hooks.
Phillips, citing Burns' time in jail and a severe injury sustained during a chase by police in Texas, asked Miller to sentence Burns to a guideline sentence with credit for time served.
"He's been jailed now in federal custody since March of 2020," Phillips said. "When he was arrested he suffered a pretty serious injury and he still has the lingering effects of that. He still has a hard time walking from that, so this will serve as a kind of daily reminder to him that he doesn't need to be doing this stuff again."
Phillips said Burns still faces possible state charges in Texas stemming from his arrest as well.
"If he's been jailed since March of 2020 and I give him 16 months he's essentially done his time," Miller observed.
"That is correct," Phillips confirmed.
Dickinson did not object to the request.
In addition to the 16-month sentence, Miller ordered Burns to serve 3 years supervised release and to pay $84,626 in restitution with his co-defendants.
Burns is the third of four defendants in the case to be sentenced. Few was sentenced on Aug. 13 to five years in prison and three years supervised release and was ordered to pay restitution along with his co-defendants. James Miller was sentenced to three years in prison and three years supervised release on June 4 and was ordered to pay restitution along with his co-defendants.
Williams pleaded guilty to all counts on April 2 and is currently awaiting sentencing in the custody of the U.S. Marshals service.