Mixlesplick
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The bank robber received a lenient sentence after robbing a bank with his kid's toy gun but here is the Holy Cow! statement.
It's hard to argue that an armed citizenry, including all bank tellers and store clerks, wouldn't be a deterrent to crime after a bank robber makes that statement!
Desperate robber gets lenient sentence
Saturday, July 23, 2005
By Theresa D. Mcclellan
The Grand Rapids Press
GRAND RAPIDS -- When working overtime, pawning his possessions and nixing food for himself to feed his family no longer worked, living near the edge of poverty pushed Lamont Davenport to desperation when he saw his son's toy gun as a way to get money for his family.
But crime is never an answer for desperation, U.S. Chief District Judge Robert Holmes Bell said Friday before sentencing Davenport to 48 months in federal prison for a March bank robbery. Davenport also received six months credit for time served -- a lenient sentence for a 20-year felony.
The sentence pleased his family and friends.
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Davenport's wife, Ilyse, 48, appeared in court with the couple's five children, relatives and friends.
Before the judge arrived, Davenport, 28, dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit, turned in his seat to make faces at his 2-year-old son, Lamont, trying to get the boy to smile. The plump-cheeked toddler with twisted braids in his hair grinned at his father, saying "Hi Daddy." The other children, ages 7, 13, and 17, alternated between looking worried and smiling at their father.
Before the sentencing, Davenport told the judge he knew he was wrong, and had taught his family the difference between right and wrong.
"It pains me to remember the look in the eye of that teller. I never meant for that to happen, and I beg forgiveness," Davenport said. He also thanked Grand Rapids police detectives who brought food to Davenport's family after arresting him for the crime and seeing his family's circumstances.
It was March 2 when Davenport said he snapped under weeks of financial pressure.
The problems began building when an unexpected car breakdown caused him to spend his last $40 on a tow truck the same week he paid his rent. Unable to get enough overtime, he said he looked around the family's apartment on Antoine St. SW and started pawning items, including the television.
The pressure mounted when a teacher told Davenport his 7-year-old son was scavenging food from other students' lunch leftovers.
"I wanted to tell her how bad of a situation I was in, but I was scared she would call Protective Services on me," Davenport said in his letter to the judge.
That night, he opened the nearly empty refrigerator and snapped when his 2-year-old cried for food.
"I had 63 cents, I couldn't even buy bread for my son," he wrote. He saw his son's black toy gun and said he thought about robbing a drug dealer. He reconsidered, thinking they had real guns. He got in his car to drive and think.
When he reached Alger Heights, he noticed a row of banks on Eastern Avenue and chose the Bank One at 2430 Eastern Ave. SE. After the robbery, he was quickly arrested and the money recovered.
Judge Bell said he received letters from Davenport's friends and family noting his act was "an aberration." But the judge said there were "a wealth of resources" Davenport could have turned to for help. Many are available by calling the United Way's "211" the First Call for Help line, which connects the needy with emergency social services.
It's hard to argue that an armed citizenry, including all bank tellers and store clerks, wouldn't be a deterrent to crime after a bank robber makes that statement!
Desperate robber gets lenient sentence
Saturday, July 23, 2005
By Theresa D. Mcclellan
The Grand Rapids Press
GRAND RAPIDS -- When working overtime, pawning his possessions and nixing food for himself to feed his family no longer worked, living near the edge of poverty pushed Lamont Davenport to desperation when he saw his son's toy gun as a way to get money for his family.
But crime is never an answer for desperation, U.S. Chief District Judge Robert Holmes Bell said Friday before sentencing Davenport to 48 months in federal prison for a March bank robbery. Davenport also received six months credit for time served -- a lenient sentence for a 20-year felony.
The sentence pleased his family and friends.
Advertisement
Davenport's wife, Ilyse, 48, appeared in court with the couple's five children, relatives and friends.
Before the judge arrived, Davenport, 28, dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit, turned in his seat to make faces at his 2-year-old son, Lamont, trying to get the boy to smile. The plump-cheeked toddler with twisted braids in his hair grinned at his father, saying "Hi Daddy." The other children, ages 7, 13, and 17, alternated between looking worried and smiling at their father.
Before the sentencing, Davenport told the judge he knew he was wrong, and had taught his family the difference between right and wrong.
"It pains me to remember the look in the eye of that teller. I never meant for that to happen, and I beg forgiveness," Davenport said. He also thanked Grand Rapids police detectives who brought food to Davenport's family after arresting him for the crime and seeing his family's circumstances.
It was March 2 when Davenport said he snapped under weeks of financial pressure.
The problems began building when an unexpected car breakdown caused him to spend his last $40 on a tow truck the same week he paid his rent. Unable to get enough overtime, he said he looked around the family's apartment on Antoine St. SW and started pawning items, including the television.
The pressure mounted when a teacher told Davenport his 7-year-old son was scavenging food from other students' lunch leftovers.
"I wanted to tell her how bad of a situation I was in, but I was scared she would call Protective Services on me," Davenport said in his letter to the judge.
That night, he opened the nearly empty refrigerator and snapped when his 2-year-old cried for food.
"I had 63 cents, I couldn't even buy bread for my son," he wrote. He saw his son's black toy gun and said he thought about robbing a drug dealer. He reconsidered, thinking they had real guns. He got in his car to drive and think.
When he reached Alger Heights, he noticed a row of banks on Eastern Avenue and chose the Bank One at 2430 Eastern Ave. SE. After the robbery, he was quickly arrested and the money recovered.
Judge Bell said he received letters from Davenport's friends and family noting his act was "an aberration." But the judge said there were "a wealth of resources" Davenport could have turned to for help. Many are available by calling the United Way's "211" the First Call for Help line, which connects the needy with emergency social services.
