Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney’s Office

District of Kansas

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, May 23, 2016

Kansas City Man Sentenced to 17 Years In Violent Overland Park Bank Robbery

KANSAS CITY, KAN. - A Kansas City man who threatened employees with a gun and dragged a woman by her hair during a bank robbery was sentenced Monday to 17 years in federal prison , Acting U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said.

Clifton B. Cloyd, 54, Kansas City, Mo., pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery and one count of brandishing a firearm during the robbery. On Oct. 29, 2014, he and another man robbed the Bank of America at 9500 Mission in Overland Park, Kan. In his plea, Cloyd admitted:

• He and his accomplice held five bank employees and one customer at gunpoint.
• Cloyd, who was carrying a handgun, grabbed one of the bank employees and pulled her by the hair and scarf to the teller station. He struck her in the face with a handgun.
• Cloyd struck a customer so hard her glasses flew off and she was knocked to the floor.
• Cloyd struck a male bank employee with such force that his head started bleeding.

Co-defendant Steve A. Watts, 55, Kansas City, Mo., is awaiting sentencing.

Beall commended the Overland Park Police Department, the Prairie Village Police Department, the Leawood Police Department, the FBI and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Zabel for their work on the case.