Marshfield couple sentenced for role in Arkansas bank robbery

(From the U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas)

David Clay Fowlkes, First Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced today that David Ray Powers, age 29, of Marshfield, Missouri, was sentenced on September 30,2020, to 120 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release on one count each of Bank Robbery and Being a felon in Possession of a Firearm and Lori Jo Stilley, age 42, of Marshfield, Missouri, was sentenced on September 17, 2020, to 41 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release on one count of Bank Robbery. The Honorable P.K. Holmes III presided over the sentencing hearing in the United States District Court in Fort Smith.

According to court records, on January 30, 2020, Powers and Stilley traveled from Missouri to Boone County, Arkansas, for the purpose of robbing a bank. Stilley assisted in the plan to rob a bank by searching on her cellular phone for locations of banks to rob. 

Powers and Stilley viewed banks in order to determine if they could readily escape after a robbery. On January 30, 2020, they entered the Arvest Bank in Lead Hill, Arkansas, and stood in line waiting for a teller. 

Once called upon, Powers placed a hand written note on the teller’s desk that stated that this was a bank robbery and demanded money. The teller complied with the Powers demands. The Teller retrieved money from a drawer totaling $1,387.00. The Teller placed the money into a tan canvass bank bag and gave the money to Powers. 

Powers took the bank bag, the hand written note, and left the bank through the front door. After receiving a vehicle description, an Arkansas State Police Trooper located a vehicle that matched the description and initiated a traffic stop. After an interview, both Powers and Stilley were arrested. The Boone County Sheriff’s Office obtained a search warrant for the vehicle and searched it. Inside the vehicle was a purse containing $1,387.00 in U.S. currency. A loaded handgun was also located under the vehicle's front seat.

Powers plead guilty to an information in June of 2020 and Stilley plead guilty to an information in May of 2020.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI, the Arkansas State Police and the Boone County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant United States Attorney Claude Hawkins prosecuted the case for the United States.