TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – A federal jury in Tallahassee convicted Johnson Saint-Louis, 37, of Deerfield Beach, Florida of armed bank robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. The guilty verdict, returned yesterday afternoon at the conclusion of a 3-day trial, was announced by Jason R. Coody, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
Evidence introduced during the trial revealed that Saint-Louis was a former ATM technician who traveled around the southeast tampering with ATMs serviced by his former employer. Over a two-year period, Saint-Louis robbed four ATM technicians sent out to fix problems apparently caused by Saint-Louis, including the ATM technician dispatched to the Bank of America at 5676 Thomasville Road in Tallahassee on September 29, 2021. The Government introduced evidence of similar robberies in Boca Raton, Florida in November 2019, Longwood, Florida in February 2021, and Raleigh, North Carolina in August 2021.
As part of the FBI’s investigation into the bank robberies, Saint-Louis was surveilled by Seminole County Sheriff’s Office deputies on November 4, 2021, who observed Saint-Louis traveling to various Bank of America locations. Deputies eventually stopped Saint-Louis and, during that traffic stop, they observed a firearm and notes listing the locations of Bank of America branches in Jacksonville, Florida. The Bank of America branches were annotated with whether the ATM at that location was manufactured by Saint-Louis’ former employer or by another company, and included notes like “too open,” “not enough exit route,” two man job,” and “posible” (sic).
The FBI’s financial investigation revealed that Saint-Louis, who had been unemployed since mid-2019, was making large cash deposits into his bank accounts (e.g. $89,939 in 2021) and gambling large amounts of money (e.g. losing $189,814 in 2021). Saint-Louis lost $39,480 gambling in the week following the Tallahassee bank robbery.
Saint-Louis’ sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 23, 2023, at 1:00 p.m., at the United States Courthouse in Tallahassee before United States District Judge Robert L. Hinkle. Saint-Louis faces up to twenty-five years in prison for armed bank robbery followed by a mandatory consecutive sentence of between seven years’ and life imprisonment for brandishing a firearm during the offense.
This conviction was the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Tallahassee Police Department and the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorneys James A. McCain and Christopher M. Elsey represented the United States at trial.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
As part of its PSN strategy, the United States Attorney’s Office is encouraging everyone to lock their car doors, particularly at night. Burglaries from unlocked automobiles are a significant source of guns for criminals in the Northern District of Florida. Please do your part and protect yourself by locking your car doors.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.