Brooklyn Park Man Sentenced for Champlin Robbery

A Brooklyn Park man will spend nearly four years in federal prison for a Champlin bank robbery.  His accomplice got a stiffer sentence.

21-year-old Boyd Jerome Morson II robbed the First Minnesota Bank on October 26th.  On Tuesday, US District Judge Joan Ericksen sentenced Morson to 42 months in prison.

Lawrence Deangelo Williamson was Morson's co-defendant.  He's also 21 and also from Brooklyn Park.  In June, Williamson was sentenced to 60 months.

Both men pled guilty.

"In their respective plea agreements, the men admitted stealing $16,900 from the bank," said Jeanne F. Cooney, spokesperson for the US Attorney Attorney.

According to Cooney, Morson and Williamson ordered three tellers to the bank's safe, ordering them to fill a backpack with money from the safe and cash drawers.  They then ordered employees to lie on the floor while they escaped.

Shortly after the robbery, firefighters responded to a vehicle fire in Brooklyn Park.  The vehicle involved matched the description of the one used in the bank robbery.  Witnesses told authorities they saw a Cadillac driving away shortly after the vehicle exploded.

"Because Morson was known to drive a Cadillac, and he lived in the area, law enforcement conducted surveillance on Morson's residence," said Cooney.

They watched Morson and Williamson put dark colored bags in a Toyota.  A woman then drove the vehicle away from the house, with Morson and Williamson in the back seat.

Police stopped the vehicle and searched it.

"In the trunk of the Toyota, police found a backpack that matched the description of the one used in the robbery," said Cooney.  In addition, police seized a nine-millimeter pistol and two license plates that had been removed from the burned vehicle.

Inside Morson's house, Cooney said police found $9,000 in cash and clothing that matched what was worn during the robbery.