LEONARDTOWN, Md. – A man convicted last year for the 2004 armed robbery of $262,000 at Cedar Point FCU on Friday was sentenced to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole.
A state judge added 40 years to the sentence for Cornelius Chase for related theft and weapons offenses during the robbery, when three employees testified a pair of masked gunmen came out of a cornfield and accosted them. The masked men entered the credit union and forced employees to lie on the ground. They ordered the manager to open the vault and put several bricks of money in a bag. The men dropped a brick of $10,000 as they made their getaway.
The judge ordered Chase to pay $262,000 in restitution, minus $47,300 that police seized from his motel room.
Chase's defense lawyer argued that the sentence was illegal, in part because prosecutors had not produced, and the defense had not stipulated to, evidence on Chase’s past criminal record that would be needed to allow the life sentence.
A prosecutor said additional suspects, including a former credit union employee who planned the robbery, will be charged in the case.
