Parker gets 46 years
By DWIGHT OTWELL Sentinel Writer

Convicted bank robber, Leonard O. Parker will be eligible to get out of federal prison when he is 96-yearsold.

On September 13, Federal Judge Lacy Thornburg sentenced Parker, 50, to 552 months in prison to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release. He is ordered to pay a $1,000 assessment to the courts. He must pay restitution to the two banks he robbed; $20,931 to First Citizens Bank in Peachtree in Cherokee County, N.C., and $14,123 to Moresville Savings Bank in Cornelius, Ga. He is also to reimburse the government for the costs of his court appointed attorney.

Parker has filed a notice of appeal.

It took a federal jury only an hour and 15 minutes to find Park guilty of all 10 counts against him. Parker claimed insanity because he said he quit taking Paxil, an anti-depressant and anti-anxiety drug, during the time of the bank robberies.

Parker had faced a maximum of 144 years in prison.

Parker used a semi-automatic pistol on January 11, 2006 to rob the Peachtree bank. He ordered a bank teller to drive him to the Murphy Medical Center parking lot.

Parker was arrested the day after the bank robbery at a motel connected with the casino at the Cherokee Indian Reservation in Cherokee, N.C.

Parker previously lived in Morganton, Ga., and owned Mountain Max Auto Superstore on the Murphy Highway in Union County.