VALDOSTA, Ga. (AP) - Two of three siblings accused of robbing a south Georgia bank during a crime spree that started in Florida and ended with a shootout in Colorado pleaded guilty Monday in federal court on two counts each.
All three had pleaded not guilty to bank robbery and gun charges in May. Ryan Dougherty and Lee Grace Dougherty changed their pleas on both counts as part of agreements with prosecutors. Their brother, Dylan Stanley-Dougherty, is not scheduled to enter a new plea.
The crime spree began in August 2011 when an officer northeast of Tampa, Fla., tried to pull over their car for speeding.
That led to a five-mile police chase at speeds around 100 mph. Two of the passengers fired at least 20 times at the officer pursuing them. He wasn't hurt, but a bullet burst one of his tires, forcing him to give up the chase.
Ryan and Lee Grace Dougherty will be sentenced Dec. 17. Details of their plea deals were not disclosed in open court! , but U.S. District Judge Hugh Lawson warned they are agreements only with prosecutors.
"They are not agreements between you and me," Lawson told the brother and sister, who stood before him in pajama-like orange jail outfits with their hands cuffed and legs shackled, flanked by their lawyers.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert McCullers told Lawson the trio robbed the Certus Bank in Valdosta in August 2011 "using force, violation and intimidation" while getting away with $5,168.
McCullers said each sibling was armed and that Lee Dougherty and Dylan Stanley-Dougherty each fired a single round into the bank's ceiling.
Lawson asked the pair if they agreed with the account McCullers read from a stipulation of facts.
"Yes, your honor, it is the truth," Ryan Dougherty said.
Each faces a maximum sentence of up to 25 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for bank robbery. There's a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years on the charges of discharging, using or carrying a firearm during the commission of a crime. The maxi mum is life and a $250,000 fine.
