Covington Man Sentenced to More Than 59 Years for Kidnapping, Armed Bank Robbery, and Firearms Offenses
| U.S. Attorney’s OfficeApril 30, 2013 |
COVINGTON—A Kenton County man convicted last December of kidnapping, armed bank robbery, and firearm offenses was sentenced to 711 months in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves sentenced 40-year-old Joseph Weir on Monday for kidnapping, brandishing a firearm in furtherance of kidnapping, armed bank robbery, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of bank robbery. Judge Reeves also ordered Weir to pay $1,492.75 in restitution. Under federal law, Weir must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence.
Weir was indicted in March 2012 and convicted in two separate trials in December 2012.
Evidence at the first trial showed that on May 31, 2011, Weir kidnapped a 75-year-old patron of the Crestview Town Center by threatening her with a knife and a .357 caliber handgun. After forcing his way into the victim’s car, he took her purse and attempted to access her bank accounts.
Weir eventually transported the victim to a remote area near Cleves, Ohio. He then used his knife to cut the victim’s sweater into pieces and used them to gag and tie her to a tree near the bank of the East Miami River. Weir abandoned the victim there and took her car back to Kentucky, leaving it near his Covington residence. The victim freed herself from the tree and eventually found assistance at a nearby road. She suffered minor injuries.
In the other trial, evidence revealed that Weir robbed the Huntington Bank at Sixth and Madison in Covington of $900 on December 5, 2011. He entered the bank, concealing a .380 caliber handgun in his coat, and passed a note to the teller threatening to shoot. After fleeing the bank with the money, Weir hid the jacket, shoes, and eyeglasses he wore during the robbery. Officers recovered the items near the bank and linked them to Weir using surveillance video and witness statements.
Kerry B. Harvey, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Perrye Turner, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, jointly announced the sentence.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI, the Covington Police Department, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, the Boone County Sheriff’s Office, and the Lakeside Park/Crestview Hills Police Department. The U.S. Attorney’s Office was represented in the case by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tony Bracke and Elaine Leonhard.
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