The the trial of an accused ring leader of a wig-wearing robbing crew suspected of hitting more than a dozen banks between 2010 and 2011 began in federal court Tuesday.
Ali Isiah Cole faces federal bank robbery, conspiracy and gun possession charges of organizing and overseeing strong-armed heists at 13 banks across the metro Atlanta area.
And when his original crew of wig-wearing bandits was captured following an October 2010 bank robbery in Lithonia, federal prosecutors said he recruited more men to continue the alleged spree.
Five of six people accused of being Craig’s accomplices in the string of robberies have admitted to their involvement, according to court records.
The heists made a splash in the media as witnesses and surveillance video depicted men wearing flamboyant wigs to conceal their faces and flashing pistols or sub-machine guns as they pillaged banks, crisscrossing the metro area from Gwinnett and Fulton counties to Rockdale and DeKalb counties.
According to a federal affidavit, Kelton Malik Huger, Lucius Oliver Service and Yaharam Ben Israel served as the first team – two went into each bank armed while another waited in a stolen getaway vehicle.
Cole would choose and scout the targets and call the shots from afar during each caper, federal officials said.
He also led the armed carjackings to acquire three of the stolen vehicles used in the robberies, federal authorities said.
Distancing himself from his cronies – he was giving orders in a different vehicle – eventually saved Cole from capture on Oct. 4, 2010.
After six robberies netting more than $150,000, Service, Israel and Huger were caught as they tried to flee a Chase Bank branch at 3007 Panola Road.
DeKalb County police chased the trio into a nearby apartment complex where Huger was corralled on foot by an armed resident and the other two caught by officers, according to federal agents.
When turned over to the FBI, the three implicated Cole as their leader, officials say.
Cole, authorities said, pulled three more bank jobs between June and July of 2011, this time using Carlton Maurice Clifton, Henry Johnson and Ebanga Samuel Asuamah.
Authorities arrested Cole a day after he and his new crew robbed a Fayetteville Suntrust Bank branch at 1330 Georgia Highway 85 on July 14, according to federal records.
Asuamah and Johnson allegedly robbed four more banks between August and November 2011, authorities said.
Both were arrested in early 2012 and eventually pleaded guilty, according to court records.
Clifton was arrested on Jan. 27, 2012, according to court officials.
About the Author
