One suspect pleads guilty in Morley bank robbery case

One of the suspects in an Oct. 10 bank robbery in Morley, Missouri, pleaded guilty to a federal charge Tuesday, the same day three suspects in a May 20 robbery at the same bank were set for arraignment on state charges.

Joshua L. Thompson of Sikeston, Missouri, pleaded guilty to a federal bank robbery charge Tuesday. His sentencing is set for Aug. 25.

Thompson was one of four suspects in the robbery last year at the First Commercial Bank in Morley.

A second suspect, Alisha D. Porter of Oran, Missouri, was set for a change of plea hearing Tuesday in federal court, but her case was continued to June 26, federal court records show.

Two other suspects, Candice L. Wright of Chicago and Roger Romero Clayton of Davenport, Iowa, also faced federal charges in connection with the October robbery.

Wright pleaded guilty to bank robbery last month and is set for sentencing July 28.

Clayton is awaiting trial on charges of armed bank robbery; conspiracy to commit bank robbery; possession of a firearm in furtherance of a bank robbery; and being a felon in possession of a firearm, federal court records show.

According to a probable-cause affidavit filed in the case, just before 8 a.m. Oct. 10, two men forced their way into the bank at 32134 U.S. 61, held the teller opening for the day at gunpoint and took an undisclosed amount of cash from teller drawers and vaults.

A witness saw two people run from the direction of the bank and get into a tan sport utility vehicle, the affidavit stated.

Thompson's guilty plea came the same day three suspects in the May 20 robbery were set to appear in Scott County Circuit Court for arraignment on state charges, online court records show.

Tyrice Royston, 36; Pamela Lathon, 46; and Alexander Trotter, 31, all of St. Louis, have been charged with second-degree robbery and felonious restraint in connection with the May 20 case, online Scott County Circuit Court records show.

Bond for Royston was set at $100,000 cash only, while Trotter's bond was $50,000 cash only, and Lathon's was $50,000 cash or surety.

Royston and Lathon also face charges in Stoddard County, Missouri, in connection with a March 17 robbery at First Commercial Bank's Essex, Missouri, branch.

In that case, Royston and an unnamed man are accused of binding two tellers' hands and feet with zip ties and knocking a bank employee out of her chair, causing a fractured vertebra, the Dexter, Missouri, Daily Statesman reported.

Royston told police Lathon drove the getaway vehicle in the Essex robbery, the Daily Statesman reported.

Royston and Lathon have been charged with first-degree robbery, felonious restraint and first-degree assault in connection with the Essex robbery, online court records show.

Royston's bond in the Stoddard County case is set at $1.5 million cash only, and Lathon's is $350,000 cash only, according to online court records.

Reporter Mark Blanton contributed some information for this story.

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