Deangelo Jackson, a 24-year-old man trying to gain the approval of his long-absent father, was sentenced to 17 years in federal prison Wednesday for his role in a violent, but bungled 2011 bank robbery.
His father, Clifford Durham, is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday morning.
At Jackson’s hearing, his family and attorney tried to portray him as a victim of his father’s manipulations. Jackson had also participated in a 2010 robbery with his father. A man was shot and Jackson told federal Judge William Simon Duffey he had only participated after rejecting his father’s offer twice.
“I wanted him to accept me as a son,” Jackson said. “I turned him down twice and he started to fade away from me. One day, I was like, I would do it.”
While sympathetic, Duffey said Jackson was ultimately responsible for his own actions – especially since he committed two robberies
“Both occasions could have resulted in people losing their lives. We are holding him accountable today,” Duffey said. “I have an acute view of who you are and you are dangerous.”
On April 15, 2011, Jackson, Durham and two other men – Rashad Marquiz Rogers and Mark Anthony Zander II — allegedly attempted to rob a Wells Fargo bank in DeKalb. Durham allegedly was the get-away driver. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nekia Hackworth said the trio didn’t get any money and fled into traffic.
The men, however, were captured the following day. Jackson and Durham confessed. Investigators then linked them to a 2010 robbery of a Stone Mountain sandwich shop, where the owner’s son was shot.
Hackworth said she found it hard to believe that all of Jackson’s decisions were coerced.
She said Jackson was an aggressor at the bank.
“He said, ‘Open that bank door or I am gonna start killing people,’” Hackworth said. “When he went, he went hard.”
Jackson sat quietly through most of Wednesday’s hearing. His grandmother, an uncle and two aunts sat quietly in the courtroom. They portrayed a different person than the one on trial. Stephen Hudson said his nephew was a good kid who never knew his father, who had previously spent time in jail.
He said when Durham was released, Jackson started spending time with him.
“Knowing his background and how he was raised, I never thought in a million years that we would be here today,” Hudson said. “But he grew up without a father. You could see the hurting in his life, the void. Here is a young man who needed to be validated by a father.”
Shakira Hudson begged the court for “mercy, grace and favor.”
“I disagree that he made a conscience decision,” she said. “I truly believe he was mentally insane, because he was longing for his father all his life.”
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