NAACP wants ‘Barbie bandits’ probe

MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) — The head of the Georgia NAACP is calling for a state investigation into the sentences given in the so-called “Barbie bandits” bank theft case.

Edward DuBose said he is asking state Attorney General Thurbert Baker to look into why a Cobb County court gave the two white women in the February 2007 bank heist less time in jail than the two black men in the case.

Baker’s office said today the attorney general had not received any complaints into the matter.

Last month, Cobb County Superior Court Judge Mary Staley sentenced Heather Johnston, 20, to 10 years probation after she pleaded guilty to a charge of theft by taking and cooperated with prosecutors. The judge gave Ashley Miller, 19, two years in jail and eight years probation.

Their accomplices — both black — weren’t as lucky.

Michael Chastang, 28, was sentenced to 10 years behind bars for being the mastermind of the scheme. Chastang’s case went to trial after he pleaded not guilty. Bank teller Bennie Allen III pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years behind bars after prosecutors said he was not cooperative.

“When four people are involved in the same crime and those who happen to be Caucasian receive much less time than those who are African American, this reflects a problem in the justice system that must be addressed,” DuBose said yesterday during a news conference.

Chastang is also serving 15 years on drug-trafficking charges not related to the bank case. Allen, 23, was on probation for a drug conviction.

DuBose said he realized that both men had prior convictions for drugs but maintained the sentences were inequitable.

“This is a case that clearly reflects unequal justice,” he said. “These two women referred to as the Barbie Bandits should have received sentences equal to the African Americans.”

Johnston and Miller — both former exotic dancers who went by the stage names “Charlie” and “Adrienne” — were nicknamed the “Barbie bandits” after they were videotaped wearing sunglasses and laughing as they appeared to rob a Bank of America branch in Acworth of about $11,000. They admitted plotting with a teller to fake the robbery and later going on a shopping spree that included a stop in a fashionable hair salon.