Robber sentenced to 4 years for bank robbery

PHILIPSBURG – The Court in First Instance sentenced Sheldon Elroy Ludovico Williams to 4 years of imprisonment for his role in an armed robbery at the Scotia Bank in Simpson Bay on June 9 of last year. At the trial on January 17, the public prosecutor demanded 6 years against the 23-year old defendant.

The prosecutor based his demand on the premise that Williams had been an accessory to the robbery but the court found that, as the driver of the getaway car, he was just an accomplice. Williams was also found guilty of firearm possession.

The court sentenced the other robbers already in January. Shaquille Akim Every, 24, and Dillon Jones, 23, were on the receiving end of the 5-year sentence. Nikhal Xavier Otto, 25, was sentenced to 4 years. The public prosecutor had demanded 8 years against Every and 6 years against Otto and Jones.

The four men traveled to the Scotia Bank in Simpson Bay on June 9 of last year around 8:45 a.m. Three of them got out of their car and threatened a security guard with their firearms. When the man refused to open the door, they broke it down and when it became clear that they could not get near the money of the bank, they turned on early customers and robbed them of their possessions – $1,700 in cash and several mobile phones.

Police arrested the robbers within half an hour. According to court documents, Sheldon Williams is seen on video footage of the robbery holding a weapon that looks like an AK-47. After his arrest, Williams had a phone in his possession that was stolen during the robbery.