A Houston man, Julius Lawan Lockett, Jr., age 30, has been handed a 14-month sentence for his role in a series of ATM burglaries in Eastern Texas, as per an announcement from Acting U.S. Attorney Abe McGlothin, Jr. In addition, Lockett has been ordered to pay a hefty sum in restitution and forfeiture, according to a report from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Lockett's plea of guilty to conspiracy to commit bank theft came before U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker, who set the terms of his confinement and financial penalties. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Lockett, alongside accomplices, took part in a calculated scheme to extract cash from ATMs, including a heist that netted them over $150,000 from a single Chase Bank machine in Tyler, Texas. His partner-in-crime, Jermone Christopher Mayes, Jr., previously received a 33-month prison sentence for similar offenses. The case, which also involved the theft of a Ford F-250 truck used in the burglary, was brought to light by the collaborative efforts of the FBI and the Tyler Police Department.
The narrative of this ordeal weaves its threads back to March 28, 2021, when Lockett and Mayes journeyed from Houston to Tyler with the intent to burgle ATMs. Their approach was brute force incarnate: they latched chains from the stolen Ford F-250 to the structure of the money dispensing machines and forcibly removed them, causing considerable damage and theft of $159,700 in one instance, as the U.S. Attorney's Office detailed.
The sum of Lockett's restitution stands at $243,540.85, with an additional forfeiture amount of $79,850, marking a steep financial punishment for the crimes committed. Such figures hint at the gravity of the offenses and the impact on the financial institutions victimized, the U.S. Attorney's Office conveyed. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan R. Jackson, who likely argued the necessity for both reparations and penal retribution in the face of such brazen criminal conduct.
