Birmingham Man Pleads Guilty During Trial
BIRMINGHAM – Birmingham man pled guilty during trial, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, and Special Agent and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Marcus Watson.
Monterius King, 31, entered his plea on August 5th before U.S. District Judge Liles Burke at the end of the first day of trial, after several witnesses had testified. King pled guilty to robbing the ServisFirst Bank on Richard Arrington Blvd. on January 3, 2017. King also pled guilty to robbing the Jet Pep gas station on Center Point Parkway on April 24, 2017, and to discharging a firearm during that robbery, in which he shot a clerk in the stomach. King has pending charges remaining in state court for attempted murder and robbery arising from the JetPep robbery, and for robbery arising from the ServisFirst bank robbery. A sentencing date has been set for December 16th.
“Those who threaten the lives of innocent employees and customers are exactly the violent criminals we will remove from our communities and relocate to a bed in federal prison,” Town said. “The government was fully prepared to present evidence at trial that would prove the guilt of this defendant. He now faces federal time in a federal prison.”
“Protecting the public by the removal of the criminal element that commits acts of violence with a firearm was the result of the combined efforts by ATF and our partners,” Watson said.
King faces up to 20 years in prison for each of the robberies, plus a consecutive term of at least 10 years for discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
The ATF investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Geer, III, is prosecuting.
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