4th suspect in $6.6M heist sentenced to 14 years

ST. LOUIS – The last of the four men suspected of a $6.6 million heist in one of the largest robberies ever in St. Louis was sentenced Tuesday to more than 14 years in prison.

Aaron Hassan Johnson, 22, was part of the group of bandits who struck the ATM Solutions business in August 2010 in what was believed to be a record heist in the city. Johnson pleaded guilty in February to federal charges of armed robbery and using a gun in a crime of violence. His sentence will be served at the same time as a 15-year term for an unrelated armed robbery.

The other three suspects in the robbery were previously sentenced to longer terms. John Wesley Jones was sentenced to 32 years, Ryechine Money to more than 19 years and Larry R. Newman to more than 24 years.

The crime occurred on Aug. 2, 2010, when four armed bandits clad from head to toe in black overpowered two workers at the St. Louis office of ATM Solutions, an ATM-servicing business, then used an armored vehicle to haul away containers filled with cash.

Police said the robbers subdued the workers with duct tape and locked them inside the vault. About 90 minutes later, police found the armored vehicle — a specially modified van — two miles away.

Police said the robbers waited for an ATM Solutions employee to come to work, then rushed in behind him, disarmed him and subdued him. They waited for a second employee to arrive, apparently because they knew it took two workers to separately punch in access codes to open the vault.

Cincinnati-based ATM Solutions replenishes cash in ATMs and maintains the machines for banks and other customers in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.

The stolen van was taken to a home. Some money was hidden in the attic, some was taken in a storage locker and some was taken to Texas and buried.

Along with the four suspected robbers, 13 others were charged with crimes related to the heist, many for helping to hide the money.