Federal Judge Sentences Tuscaloosa Credit Union Robber to 41 Years in Prison

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BIRMINGHAM—A federal judge Wednesdaysentenced a Tuscaloosa man to 41 years in prison for armed robberies of twocredit unions in 2011 and for escape from custody in December 2011, announcedU.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance.
Richard Patton, 22, pleaded guiltybefore U.S. District Judge Abdul Kallon to two counts of armed robbery and onecount of using a firearm during a crime of violence, stemming from the February1, 2011, hold-up of the Tuscaloosa County Credit Union and the April 20, 2011,robbery of the Alabama Central Credit Union in Tuscaloosa.
Kallon sentenced Patton to the 41 yearsin prison and ordered him to pay $58,000 in restitution. Patton will besupervised for an additional five years upon his release from custody.
Patton’s admissions Wednesday were partof a consolidated plea agreement that included a third case, charging him forescaping from the Cullman County Detention Center on December 2, 2011, whileincarcerated as a federal prisoner. Patton had previously pleaded guilty to theescape but had not been sentenced.
The 41-year sentence also incorporatedPatton’s earlier sentence for a third armed robbery, which occurred April 26,2011, at the Tuscaloosa Credit Union in Northport, with some of the sentencesimposed Wednesday running concurrently and others running consecutively to that13 ½-year sentence.
These cases were investigated by theTuscaloosa Police Department, the Northport Police Department, the CullmanPolice Department, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the FBI; and it wasprosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys L. James Weil Jr. and William G.Simpson.