Three Men Indicted for Attempted Armored Car Heist

AMARILLO— A federal grand jury in Amarillo returned an eight-count indictment on March 19 charging three men with various felony offenses stemming from an alleged heist of money from an armored car last year in Amarillo, announced John Parker, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.

Trent Michael Cook, 24, Britt Michael Gresham, 24, and Brian Keith Hodge, 43, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, one count of attempting to interfere with commerce by robbery, and one count of possessing firearms in furtherance of a violent crime. Cook and Gresham are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank theft, and Cook is charged with three counts and Gresham with one count, of bank theft. Hodge is charged with one count of being an accessory after the fact. Hodge is Cook’s father.

All three defendants are in custody and each is expected to make his initial appearance in federal courts sometime next week.

According to the indictment, as part of the conspiracy, Cook purchased firearms to use in a plan to rob the vault of Rochester Armored in Amarillo. The plan involved Cook using his status as an employee of Rochester Armored to gain access to the company vault containing millions of dollars in U.S. currency so that the three defendants could commit the armed robbery of Rochester Armored, using the firearms to threaten force, violence and fear of injury against Rochester Armored employees. Cook and Gresham purchased a van to load and transport bags of U.S. currency taken from Rochester Armored. Hodge attempted to obtain a location in Colorado for the defendants to hide after the robbery. The indictment further alleges that on December 22, 2014, Cook and Gresham took money from an armored car belonging to Rochester Armored.

A federal indictment is an accusation by a grand jury and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. Upon conviction, however, the conspiracy count and the substantive count of attempting to interfere with commerce by robbery each carry a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. The firearms offense carries a mandatory five-year penalty and a $250,000 fine. The conspiracy to commit bank theft count and the accessory after the fact count each carry a maximum statutory penalty of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Each of the bank theft counts carries a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

The Amarillo Police Department, the Colorado Springs Police Department, the Potter County District Attorney’s Office and the FBI were the investigating agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Hammer is in charge of the prosecution.