Sumter Man Guilty After Robbing Same Bank Twice

United States Attorney W. Walter Wilkins stated that Deonta Lamont Carpenter, age 29, of Sumter, South Carolina, pled guilty in federal court to armed bank robbery and a related firearms offense. Carpenter pled guilty during the middle of trial, following two days of testimony. United States District Judge Joseph F. Anderson, Jr., will sentence Carpenter at a later date.

Carpenter first robbed the Bank of America branch at 1141 Broad Street in Sumter on November 4, 2004. Carpenter entered the bank with a gun and robbed it of more than $20,000. Officers spotted the getaway car and attempted to stop it, but Carpenter jumped from the car with the money and ran into a wooded area near the Turbeville Correctional Institute. The manhunt lasted all day, until SLED bloodhounds tracked down Carpenter and the stolen bag of money he had hidden in the woods.

Carpenter was jailed on state charges for the bank robbery, but was later released on bond in July 2005. Three days after his release, Carpenter robbed the same bank again, this time getting away with more than $330,000. He was captured approximately one week later in Columbia by officers assigned to the Fugitive Squad of the United States Marshals Service.

Carpenter faces a mandatory minimum term of 32 years in federal prison.

The case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Marshals Service, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, and the Sumter Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Stan Ragsdale and Bob Jendron of the Columbia office handled the case.