Federal grand jury indicts man questioned in armored truck guard’s murder, armed robbery
New Orleans LA June 24 2017 A federal grand jury on Thursday (June 22) indicted a man on charges he lied to the FBI during questioning about last month’s armed robbery and murder of an armored truck guard outside a Mid-City credit union.
Deltoine Scott on Thursday pleaded not guilty to the two-count indictment charging him with making false statements to the FBI.
Scott was arrested by federal agents June 6. He has not been charged in the May 31 robbery and fatal shooting of James McBride, the guard who was shot more than once about 4:30 p.m. while servicing an ATM outside the Campus Federal Credit Union in the 2200 block of Tulane Avenue.
McBride, 33, died at the hospital.
Scott wore a jail uniform stamped, “St. Bernard Prisoner,” during his arraignment hearing in U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph Wilkinson Jr.’s court. He answered the judge clearly when asked if he understood the charges against him and penalty he faces.
An affidavit sworn by FBI Special Agent Christopher Bauer filed in Scott’s case says the robbers wore masks and hoods. They fled in a 2002 Ford F120 with a black hood and bed and white roof and doors, according to the affidavit.
Deltoine Scott is accused of lying to a federal agent during an interview regarding the May 31 robbery and fatal shooting.
The night of the robbery and murder, NOPD officer stopped a pickup truck matching that description on Chef Menteur Highway. The driver of the car said Scott, who was the driver’s grandson, borrowed his truck that day, picking it up that morning and returning it about 10 p.m.
Investigators then reviewed the call history for Scott’s cellphone and found he had received a call at 12:44 p.m. May 31 from a cellphone connected to Jerome Kieffer, who the complaint calls a “known associate.”
The call lasted about 17 minutes. Based on the duration of the call and the location of cell towers used, investigators determined that Scott had driven from the vicinity of his grandfather’s home in New Orleans East to the vicinity of Tulane Avenue and Galvez Street during the call with Kieffer.
The June 6 federal complaint accusing Scott of lying to the FBI said the allegations stemmed from an interview Scott gave to police at the department’s homicide office on June 6, an interview Scott requested and attended with his attorney. It says Scott lied about his location and cellphone usage.
Count 1 of the indictment says Scott told FBI agents he lost his cell phone May 29 and had not found it or made any calls on the phone on May 31.
“The statements were false, fictitious, and fraudulent because, as Deltoine Scott then and there knew, he used his phone numerous times on May 31, 2017,” the indictment says.
Count 2 of the indictment says Scott lied again that day when he told an FBI agent that the truck he borrowed from his grandfather overheated when he was on his way to a daiquiri shop, and that he let the truck cool by the roadside for a half hour without stopping or visiting anyone before returning the truck to his grandfather.
“The statements were false, fictitious and fraudulent because as Deltoine Scott then and there knew, he went to J.K.’s apartment” in the 2200 block of Tulane Avenue, despite his claims that he did not stop or visit anyone, the indictment says. J.K. stands for Jerome Kiefer, who federal prosecutors previously identified as Scott’s “associate.” Kiefer’s apartment is in the same block as the credit union where McBride was shot and killed during the robbery.
Private defense attorney Benny George Jr., who has been hired by Scott, declined to comment on his client’s case outside the courtroom. About a half dozen of Scott’s supporters in court on Thursday also declined to comment.
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