In 2013 slaying of Loomis armored truck guard, feds close in on guilty pleas from last defendants
New Orleans LA May 27 2021 In an indication that plea deals may be in the works, three men charged in the shooting death of an armored truck guard outside a New Orleans bank in 2013 are scheduled to be rearraigned on May 25, according to an order filed in U.S. District Court this week.
Lilbear George, Chukwudi Ofomata and Curtis Johnson pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery in 2017. The hearing suggests the men may have reached a deal with prosecutors to change their pleas to guilty in hopes of securing more lenient punishments. A trial date has been set for June 7.
Attorneys Ralph Whalen, Sarah Ottinger and Bruce Whittaker, who represent Johnson, Ofomata and George, respectively, declined comment Tuesday.
The change of plea hearing before U.S. District Judge Lance Africk is scheduled to take place two years after jurors convicted Jeremy Esteves of helping to plan and carry out the robbery that cost Loomis guard Hector Trochez his life.
At the same trial in November 2019, jurors found a fifth defendant, Robert Brumfield III, guilty of helping plan the deadly stickup. But they acquitted him of actually participating in robbery.
Esteves is facing mandatory life imprisonment but hasn’t been sentenced because of delays due to the pandemic. Brumfield, who is Esteves’ cousin, faces up to 20 years behind bars and is also awaiting sentencing.
Federal prosecutors were at one point pursuing the death penalty against George, Ofomata and Johnson, who — as a result — were not tried alongside Esteves and Brumfield. But last week, months after President Joe Biden was sworn in, Africk granted a motion from prosecutors to abandon its pursuit of the death penalty for the men.
Trochez, 45, was killed in a shootout with three masked gunmen who showed up in a stolen Chevrolet Tahoe and ambushed him on Dec. 18, 2013. He and his partner were delivering $265,000 to the Chase Bank branch at South Carrollton and South Claiborne avenues.
Another man drove the robbers away from the scene. The four men then abandoned the Tahoe and left in another getaway car. DNA left on screwdriver in the Tahoe gave investigators a key break, allowing them to connect George to the case.
That lead, along with informants, cellphone records, surveillance and other evidence, set the stage for the government to file charges in November 2017 alleging that Ofomata, George and Johnson fired guns at Trochez before fleeing with the help of Esteves and Brumfield.
A girlfriend of George, Jasmine Theophile, was also charged with trying to thwart the investigation by destroying a cellphone, and she pleaded guilty shortly before Esteves and Brumfield were tried.
Prosecutors said Trochez’s killers received help from an employee of the bank, Thierry King, who had been in touch with Brumfield and Esteves ahead of the holdup. But prosecutors have stopped short of charging her, instead describing her as an unindicted co-conspirator.
In addition to the federal charges, Ofomata is awaiting trial on state murder charges connected to the 2008 shooting deaths of a couple whose burned bodies were found in a torched SUV.
nola
