Grosse Pointe Woods Bank Robbers Found Guilty

Three men involved in the robbery of Citizens Bank in May 2011 are awaiting their sentence in federal court after two were recently found guilty following trials and a third plead guilty.

The two men who entered the Grosse Pointe Woods bank donning ski masks as they entered and armed with guns were Alfred R. Wingate and Leroy Alonzo Loving. The organizer was Raynard Verstile Crowe, according to an indictment. 

Juries recently found Wingate and Crowe guilty on several counts including bank robbery, conspiracy, use of a firearm in a violent crime and more. Loving pleaded guilty and was used by the U.S. District Attorney's against the others charged.

The men are part of a larger group that were committing robberies, Woods Detective Sgt. Raymond Yonkowski said. Crowe was arrested out west while traveling in September 2011. He was brought back to Detroit.

A few weeks after the robbery, Crime Stoppers offered a reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the bank robbery.

Crowe provided Wingate and Loving with the guns used in the robbery and he also drove to the bank the day of the robbery to withdraw $10 from an account he opened the week before. He sat outside during the robbery.

Two women were also involved in the crime. They arrived in a third vehicle to the bank and waited outside the bank, according to the indictment.

In addition to robbing the bank in Grosse Pointe Woods, the group has also been found guilty or pleaded guilty to robbing two pharmacies--one in Warren and one in Ferndale.

Similar to the Woods bank robbery, Crowe provided Wingate and another man with the guns to rob Medicap Pharmacy in Warren June 17, 2011. Crowe was found not guilty in relation to the Ferndale Pharmacy robbery.

However, according to federal court records, Wingate and another man entered Ferndale Pharmacy armed with guns, threatened to kill anyone who called police and fired shots during the crime. Additionally, those inside the pharmacy were tied up with cable wire during the robbery.

A victim called 911 from a cell phone during the robbery, which led to police responding before the robbery was over. Wingate and his fellow robber were arrested in an alley. They had a large amount of cash with them that was parcelled up as if it had been stolen from several locations.

Additionally, they had a duffle bag stuffed with pharmacy drugs and loaded guns, according to federal records.

Wingate is slated to be sentenced in Eastern District of Michigan U.S. District Court June 24. He was found guilty of conspiracy, bank robbery, two counts of pharmacy robbery, three counts of use of a firearm in a violent crime and two counts of felon in posession of a firearm. 

Crowe is slated to be sentenced June 26. He was found guilty of conspiracy, bank robbery, pharmacy robbery, one count of use of a firearm in a violent crime and two counts of felon in possession of a firemarm.

Loving will be sentenced this week.

All three men will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Tarnow. Wingate faces 45 to 84 years in prison while Crowe faces 37 to 65 years in prison, according to a release sent to Grosse Pointe Woods Department of Public Safety.

The prosecutor made special note of the key evidence, which included the bank teller who testified against the men and the video surveillance tapes.