STRATEGIC PARTNERS
March 27, 2003
SHREVEPORT, La. -- Two former policemen were indicted on March 27 on charges that they plotted to steal money from ATMs.
Former officers Jimmie Peck and Kevin Burford, and Burford's wife, Gretchen Burford, were each charged with conspiracy and two counts of bank robbery, according to an Associated Press report.
The federal indictment accuses them of breaking into a Hibernia National Bank ATM on Dec. 18, and a PNC Bank machine on March 2.
According to the AP, the maximum sentence would be 45 years in prison and $750,000 in fines, but first offenders rarely get the maximum.
Police arrested the Burfords after staking out a mall based on a tip that someone might break into an ATM there. Burford was inside the mall; his wife was in the parking lot.
Peck is accused of loaning his department-issued radio to Burford on that and other occasions. Deputies reportedly found the radio in the vehicle in which Burford's wife was waiting.
Burford allegedly paid Peck $5,000 to use his radio in the December theft, which allegedly netted $45,000 and 300 books of postage stamps.
Burford was fired from the Police Department in 1997 for allegedly stealing a handgun. He told authorities that he borrowed Peck's radio on several occasions because he "liked to listen to friends" and said Peck was not involved in any crimes.
