Credit union hostage-taker gets 40-year prison sentence

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A man who held 11 credit union employees hostage while attempting to rob the main office of Alabama Credit Union in Birmingham, Ala., was sentenced to 40 years in prison today by a federal judge for the state’s Northern District.

Cederick Lamar Collins reportedly attempted to rob the credit union in order to obtain funds needed to pay for a separate criminal case.

“We’re satisfied with the sentencing results, and glad that we’ve now had one more big step to complete closure of this case,” Chief Development Officer Kayce Bell wrote in an email to ACU employees obtained by Credit Union Journal.

Federal Judge Scott Coogler sentenced Collins after a jury convicted him in August of holding Alabama CU employees hostage for three hours on Jan. 10 of this year. He was given 20 years in prison for robbery and 20 years for hostage taking, to be served consecutively. Bell wrote that Coogler said he wanted to impose a sentence of more than just 20 years per count.

Because Coogler imposed what the judicial system considers an excessive sentence, Collins may now make an appeal in federal court.

“Prosecutors and law enforcement present assured us, however, he’ll be put away for a long, long time — probably at the prison in Talladega,” Bell wrote.