ST. PAUL, Minn. – A Minneapolis man has been sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for two armed bank robberies and firearms violations.
According to court documents, on two separate occasions in 2018, Samuel Lamar Brantley, 34, was involved in armed robberies in the Twin Cities. In each incident, Brantley brandished a .40 caliber Glock handgun while he and his accomplices demanded money from tellers.
Between the two robberies, Brantley and his accomplices stole nearly $100,000.
In May of 2018, according to court documents, following a shooting incident near Brantley’s residence, Brantley’s acquaintance – identified as “the shooter” – handed off two handguns to Brantley. The next morning, Brantley met “the shooter” at a restaurant so he could return the firearms. During the course of their conversation, “the shooter” told Brantley that he had used the firearms to shoot a man the night before.
In October of 2020, Brantley pleaded guilty to two counts of bank robbery, one count of carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, one count of conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery, and one count of disposing of a firearm to a felon.
The investigation of this case was conducted by multiple federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Samantha H. Bates and Amber M. Brennan as part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods Program. Acting U.S. Attorney Charles J. Kovats made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright sentenced the defendant.
