DANIEL CURRY SENTENCED TO 89 YEAR, 3 MONTHS FOR
SERIES OF ARMED BANK ROBBERIES

PRESS RELEASE

Susan W. Brooks, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, announced that Daniel W. Curry, 61, Bloomington, Indiana, was sentenced to 89 years, 3 months imprisonment today by U.S. District Chief Judge Larry J. McKinney following his conviction after a jury trial in March of four counts of armed bank robbery and four counts of using a weapon during a crime of violence. His brother, Arthur J. Curry, 59, Greensboro, North Carolina was sentenced to 22 years imprisonment on Friday, June 1, 2007 by U.S. District Chief Judge Larry J. McKinney following his guilty plea in February to two counts of armed bank robbery and one count of using a weapon during a crime of violence arising from the same case. These convictions were the result of a three-year investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Terre Haute Police Department, the Kokomo Police Department, and the Safe Streets Task Force.

Federal and local law enforcement officials investigated a series of bank robberies that occurred in the states of Indiana and Kentucky that appeared to be related, based upon the manner in which they were perpetrated. These robberies typically took place in the winter months and were conducted by two subjects described as older white males disguised by heavy winter clothing, wigs, artificial facial hair, sunglasses, and/or hats. The subjects brandished handguns during the commission of the robberies, and one subject controlled the lobby while the other subject gained access to the bank's vault. Stolen vehicles were used as getaway/switch vehicles following the commission of the crimes.

The investigation involved 10 different robberies that occurred in Indiana and one that was committed in Louisville, Kentucky. Total loss of all the robberies combined approached two million dollars. Three of these robberies occurred in Terre Haute, Vigo County, Indiana, and one occurred in Kokomo, Howard County, Indiana, as charged in counts 1 through 8 of the indictment against the Curry’s.

On April 9, 2003, Terre Haute First National Bank located at 3005 South 7th Street, Terre Haute, Vigo County, Indiana, was robbed of approximately $301,793 by two older white males disguised by heavy winter clothing and fake facial hair that appeared to be painted on with makeup. The two fled the scene in a BMW Coupe, maroon in color, which was reported stolen from the Terre Haute area the previous day. This vehicle was recovered in a pharmacy parking lot located adjacent to the bank.

On February 9, 2005, an Old National Bank branch located at 2429 Poplar Street, Terre Haute, Vigo County, Indiana, was robbed of approximately $394,408, by two white males, wearing sweatshirts, fake mustaches, and artificial beards. The robbers asked for the Brinks money and brandished handguns during the commission of the crimes. The pair used two getaway vehicles to flee the scene, first leaving in a Mercury Grand Marquis stolen out of Louisville, Kentucky, then switching to a Pontiac Grand Prix stolen out of the Greenwood, Indiana, area. Both vehicles were recovered in close proximity to the Old National Bank branch mentioned above.

On December 9, 2005, a Regions Bank branch located at 3545 South Lafountain Street, Kokomo, Howard County, Indiana, was robbed of approximately $118,961 by two older white males wearing heavy winter clothing and displaying silver, semi-automatic handguns. The pair fled the scene in a 1996 Dodge Stratus, maroon in color, which was reported stolen from the Greenwood, Indiana, area three days before the robbery.

On January 19, 2006, a Fifth Third Bank, Indiana branch located at 1451 Fort Harrison Road, Terre Haute, Vigo County, Indiana, was robbed. Again, the two subjects were described as older white males wearing bulky winter clothing, artificial facial hair, and brandishing silver handguns. Approximately $237,563 was taken in this robbery. Witnesses confirmed that dye packs exploded on the subjects shortly after they exited the bank. A Geo Tracker reported stolen from Terre Haute on January 16, 2006, was used by the pair to flee the scene and was subsequently recovered a few blocks from the bank. The floor in the Geo Tracker was heavily stained with red dye. Also recovered was a stolen Pontiac Montana that was used in the robbery. This vehicle was reported stolen from an apartment complex in Crawfordsville, Indiana, early in the morning on January 19, 2006.

In the three weeks following this last robbery, the FBI was notified on several occasions by different banking institutions and a river boat casino of an individual who attempted to deposit and/or exchange money that appeared to be heavily stained with red dye. This individual was identified as co-defendant Daniel W. Curry, 61, Bloomington, Indiana.

Investigation determined that Daniel Curry checked out of a hotel in Crawfordsville, Indiana, on January 19, 2006. Further investigation revealed that Daniel Curry's cellular phone, used cellular towers in the Crawfordsville and Terre Haute areas before and after the robbery of the Fifth Third Bank branch in Terre Haute on January 19, 2006, to dial and receive cellular telephone calls.

On February 10, 2006, search warrants issued by a magistrate judge of the Southern District of Indiana were effected at Daniel Curry's residence in Bloomington and at a storage unit rented by Daniel Curry in Martinsville, Indiana. Among the items recovered at the searches were a gym bag with numerous disguises, including a wig, sunglasses, artificial facial hair, liquid latex, and baseball hats; a bag of .380 caliber ammunition; a red dye stained silver handgun; blue hooded and tan hooded zip-up jackets; and over $140,000 in United States Currency, much of it stained with red dye. Some of the money was wrapped in straps from the Regions Bank branch in Kokomo and the Fifth Third Bank branch in Terre Haute.

The money located during the searches was found at the storage unit in a vacuum cleaner box, a lockbox, and in a shoe box. Additionally, money was found hidden in a coat pocket in Daniel Curry's bedroom in Bloomington, in a cosmetic bag carried by Daniel Curry's wife, and on Daniel Curry's person. The money found in Daniel Curry's jacket was wrapped in a strap from the Regions Bank in Kokomo, Indiana. Daniel Curry was arrested subsequent to the execution of the search warrants.

Approximately a month and a half following Daniel Curry's arrest, law enforcement agents interviewed Mary McMichael Curry, Daniel Curry's wife. Following the interview agents asked Mary McMichael Curry and subsequently received verbal permission to search the garage at Daniel Curry's residence in Bloomington, Indiana. During the search, law enforcement agents recovered $6,245 hidden under a sliding door in a workbench in the garage. The money was bundled up in rubber bands and was stained with red dye.

Information obtained from the searches, examinations of Daniel Curry's cellular phone call detail records, and interviews conducted by the FBI determined that the other perpetrator of these robberies was Daniel Curry's brother, Arthur Jackson Curry, 59, Greensboro, North Carolina. At the time, there was an outstanding arrest warrant for Arthur Curry out of Kosciusko County, Indiana, for a Failure to Appear on a stolen vehicle charge. Investigators additionally believed that Arthur Curry used the alias Aldine Hege.

Contact was made with Arthur Curry by the FBI on February 24, 2006, after he was arrested in Greensboro, North Carolina, on the outstanding failure to appear warrant out of the state of Indiana. When Arthur Curry was arrested, he admitted that he was in fact Arthur Jackson Curry, and that Aldine Hege was an alias he used while in North Carolina. During the subsequent interview, Arthur Curry consented to a search of his residence by the FBI. Items recovered during the search included two handguns, a gym bag containing numerous disguises such as artificial facial hair, sunglasses, and hats, Arthur Curry's Indiana driver's license, and over $85,000 in United States Currency. Much of the United States Currency was stained with red dye, and some of the money was still wrapped in straps from the Fifth Third Bank branch in Terre Haute and the Regions Bank branch in Kokomo.

Upon recovery of the Pontiac Grand Prix that was used as a getaway vehicle in the robbery of the Old National Bank branch in Terre Haute, a brown cloth glove was recovered from the driver's side seat whereupon it was sent to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, and compared against DNA samples obtained by consent from both Arthur Curry and Daniel Curry. Following testing of the recovered glove, technicians at the FBI laboratory determined it contained DNA from Daniel Curry.

Additionally, two separate samples of artificial facial hair were recovered during the processing of the Pontiac Montana, which was used as a getaway vehicle following the robbery of the Fifth Third Bank in Terre Haute. The artificial hair was sent to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, and compared against DNA samples obtained by consent from both Arthur Curry and Daniel Curry. One piece of the artificial hair, a fake mustache, contained DNA from Arthur Curry, and the other piece of artificial hair, a fake beard, contained DNA from Daniel Curry.

According to Assistant United States Attorneys James M. Warden and Christina McKee, who prosecuted the case for the government, Chief Judge McKinney further ordered that the Currys make restitution in excess of $1 million to the 4 victim banks listed in the indictment, and ordered the forfeiture of certain motor vehicles and currency seized from the Curry’s to partially satisfy the restitution order. Arthur Curry will be on federal supervised release for five (5) years following completion of his period of incarceration.

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