Two plead guilty in 2007 bank robbery

Two men who sought to rob a bank by sowing confusion in Cape Girardeau with bomb hoaxes pleaded guilty this week to robbing a Lilbourn, Mo., bank when their original scheme went awry.

Keith D. Moon, 19, of Cape Girardeau, and Lance L. Lewis, 22, of Lilbourn, Mo., pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Cape Girardeau to one count each of armed bank robbery. U.S. District Judge Henry Autrey set sentencing for July 22.

On Aug. 17, Moon, his brother Darnell Moon and Lewis called in six bomb threats to Cape Girardeau police in an effort to divert attention from a planned robbery of Alliance Bank, 217 N. Kingshighway. They used carbon dioxide cartridges and duct tape purchased at Wal-Mart in Cape Girardeau to make fake bombs that were planted at several locations around town, according to court documents. They also purchased a pellet gun at Wal-Mart that was used in the robbery of the Bank of New Madrid in Lilbourn.

The men went to Alliance Bank, but the number of people there made them change their plans, according to the documents.

Lilbourn police chief Dennis Young, responding to a 911 call about the robbery at the Bank of New Madrid, saw three men running from the bank and, after following the suspects for two blocks, began a foot pursuit.

Lewis fell and was apprehended and Keith Moon surrendered after Young fired two warning shots and cautioned that he would shoot at Keith Moon with the next round.

Darnell Moon was apprehended after a Scott County K-9 unit dog tracked him to some thick brush several hours later.

The Moon brothers each brandished a weapon at the Lilbourn bank, the federal prosecutor's office said in a news release, but only the pellet gun was recovered. An audit showed that the trio netted $13,729 in the robbery. The money was recovered.

rkeller@semissourian.com

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