TULSA, Okla. (AP) - A Talala man has been sentenced to three life terms in prison after he was found guilty of robbing three Oklahoma banks.
A jury convicted Jesse Bud Leaverton, 58, on Sept. 20 on charges related to the June armed robberies of two Tulsa banks and one Fairfax bank, the Tulsa World (https://bit.ly/2iyjR7S ) reported.
Chief U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell on Thursday ordered the mandatory terms for Leaverton, noting federal law left him no leeway.
The federal three-strikes law imposes a mandatory life sentence if the person is convicted of a serious violent felony and has two or more prior serious violent felony convictions in federal or state court.
Leaverton was convicted in Tulsa County of first-degree manslaughter in 1984 and by a Missouri federal court in 1993 for charges involving an armed bank robbery.
Leaverton’s public defender, Whitney Mauldin, said the man was born into an inescapable life of childhood trauma and abuse, which led him to drop out of school and lead a life of crime. Prosecutors said Leaverton’s criminal history still qualifies him for a mandatory prison life sentence.
“For 36 years defendant has led a continuous life of crime, both on and off the streets, which he blames on his childhood,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Neal Hong said in a court filing. “The United States recognizes that Defendant did suffer abuse during his childhood, but his propensity to commit crimes outweighs any mitigation from his childhood.”
Frizzell ordered Leaverton to make restitution for the approximately $13,500 stolen from the three robberies.
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Information from: Tulsa World, https://www.tulsaworld.com
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