Brink’s truck driver who admitted staging robbery sentenced to prison
MOBILE, Ala. Sept 22 2021 An inside job pulled off by a Brink’s armored truck driver will cost him two years of freedom, a federal judge decided Monday.
Senior U.S. District Judge William Steele sentenced Jonah Tomoni Dewayan Bessard to two years in prison and recommended that he participate in a substance abuse program.
The defendant will get credit for the time he has been jailed since his arrest.
The judge also ordered Bessard, 26, to pay back the $503,230 he stole.
The heist occurred on Jan. 5. According Bessard’s written plea agreement, he loaded the armored truck with cash belonging to New Horizon Credit Union.
Contrary to company policy, he separated the bags with the largest denomination bills from the other bags and placed those inside of the secondary passenger compartment.
Bessard then stopped for gas at Doug’s Quick Mart on Higgins Road and went inside to buy coffee. On the way back to the truck, he faked being a victim of a holdup. Two accomplices who planned the robbery with him rushed him, opened the vehicle and threw him to the ground, according to the plea document.
The robbers grabbed the money bags and then drove off in a sliver Infinity G35. According to the plea agreement, Bessard drew his gun, pointed it in the direction of the getaway car and fired one shot in that general direction.
Three days after the robbery, law enforcement obtained a warrant to search a storage unit registered to Bessard and found $120,470. Court records indicate that the Jan. 5 robbery totaled $489,000. In addition, Bessard admitted, he stole another $134,700 since beginning his job with Brink’s.
Bessard also faces charges in Mobile County Circuit Court, along with girlfriend Sierra Briannia Overton, 23, and brother Isaiah Campbell. The trials of all three are scheduled from September of next year.
WALA
