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Suspect in bank extortion, carjacking plots could face mandatory minimum of 142 years in prison

Posted at 3:36 pm January 26, 2016
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge Police Department at Y-12 Federal Credit Union

The Oak Ridge Police Department responded to a kidnapping and attempted robbery at the Y-12 Federal Credit Union on Lafayette Drive in Oak Ridge on Tuesday morning, April 28, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 4:10 p.m.

KNOXVILLE—One of the two suspects in three alleged bank extortion and carjacking plots that involved bank employees and their family members, including at Y-12 Federal Credit Union in Oak Ridge, is facing a minimum mandatory sentence of 142 years in prison, if he is convicted on all 15 charges that he faces, a federal prosecutor said Tuesday.

Brian Witham pleaded not guilty to the 15 charges—which include bank extortion, attempted bank extortion, carjacking, and brandishing a firearm while committing a crime—during a 20-minute arraignment and initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Knoxville on Tuesday afternoon.

Brian Witham

Brian Witham (Photo courtesy WATE-TV in Knoxville)

A trial has been set for March 29.

Witham’s alleged co-conspirator, Michael Benanti, has an initial appearance and arraignment scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Friday.

The two were indicted by a federal grand jury on December 15 for plots that involved kidnapping family members and robbing or attempting to rob three banks and credit unions in Oak Ridge, Knoxville, and Elizabethton, Tennessee. Benanti, 43, is from Lake Harmony, Pennsylvania, and Witham, 45, is from Waterville, Maine. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Federal, Government, Knoxville, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Police, Police and Fire, Slider, Top Stories, U.S. Tagged With: arraignment, attempted bank extortion, bank extortion, brandishing a firearm, Brian Witham, Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office, C. Clifford Shirley, carjacking, Dave Lewen, Edward Reinhold, FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Knox County Sheriff’s Office, Knoxville Police Department, Maggie Valley Police Department, Mark Zeigler, Michael Benanti, Nancy Stallard Harr, North Carolina State Highway Patrol, Northeast Community Credit Union, Oak Ridge Police Department, SmartBank, Tanner Harris, the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. District Court, Y-12 Federal Credit Union

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