RALEIGH - United States Attorney George E.B. Holding announced that in federal court on Friday, May 9, 2008, United States District Judge Terrence W. Boyle sentenced HENDERSON LEWIS HINTON, 31, to 872 months (72 years, 8 months) in prison. Following a jury trial, HINTON was found guilty in December, 2007 of two counts of armed robbery affecting interstate commerce, one count of armed bank robbery, and three counts of using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. The defendant was charged in an Indictment returned by a Federal Grand Jury on November 13, 2006.

HINTON was convicted of the October 16, 2006 armed robbery of the Nationwide Insurance Agency in Ahoskie, North Carolina. He was also convicted of the October 19, 2006, armed robberies of Bennett Insurance Services in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and the Southern Bank branch in Scotland Neck, North Carolina. He was convicted of using a firearm to commit all three robberies. In each of the robberies, HINTON pointed a revolver at the victims and demanded money. He received $1,429.00 in the Ahoskie robbery, $10.00 in the Rocky Mount robbery, and $1,074.00 from the Scotland Neck bank robbery. All of these robberies occurred one month following HINTON'S release from federal prison following his 2003 conviction for a 2002 bank robbery in Greenville, North Carolina. In addition to prison time, HINTON was ordered to make restitution to his victims.

George Holding commented, "The defendant's 872-month sentence, a sentence he will serve nearly in its entirety, sends a powerful message to violent criminals throughout our district: If you commit these types of crimes; if you terrorize our fellow citizens; we are coming after you."

Investigation of the case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Ahoskie Police Department, the Rocky Mount Police Department, the Scotland Neck Police Department, and the Halifax County Sheriff's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney John H. Bennett of the Greenville branch office is handling the case for the Government.