GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM) -- The Florida couple who robbed an Alpine Township bank and led police on a chase through Kent County are headed to prison.
Adam and Tammy Jo Jones were sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids for the September robbery at the Comerica Bank on 4 Mile Road near Alpine Avenue NW.
The judge sentenced Adam Jones to 13 years in prison for bank robbery and use of a firearm during the crime. He must also serve five years of supervised release.
Tammy Jo Jones must serve six and a half years for aiding and abetting her husband in the robbery. She must also serve three years of supervised release. The couple is also responsible for paying back $16,363.99.
On September 28, Jones walked into the bank and demanded money. He was given $76,000. Jones rode a bike across 4 Mile Road and behind a shopping center, where he met his wife in a large Budget rental box truck. They drove off, but police quickly caught up and began pursuing the couple.
The slow-speed chase went through parts of Walker, Grand Rapids, Grandville and Wyoming. At one point on Clyde Park Avenue SW, the couple began throwing the stolen money out the window of the truck. Police recovered more than $69,000, but another $16,000 remained missing. That's the same amount the Joneses are responsible for paying back, per the judge's order.
Police used spike strips to deflate the truck tires, ending the chase near Cesar Chavez Elementary School off Grandville Avenue SW in Grand Rapids. Police took the couple into custody.
The Jones' argued for leniency from U.S. District Court Judge Gordon Quist. In memos to the court, the couple's lawyers argued they had moved to Grand Rapids from Florida to help her daughter, who had been hospitalized. Adam Jones' public defenders say in the weeks leading up to the robbery, the couple had become broke and he had been suffering from stress and sleep deprivation. They hatched the plan to rob the bank for the money to return to their home in Florida, according to the memos.