Blackjack player who left casino to rob bank gets prison

Published March 16, 2017

Kerry Johnson looks at people in a courtroom as he is brought in for sentencing for a 2016 bank robbery, in Charleston, W.Va., Thursday, March 2, 2017. Johnson, a drug-addicted gambler who left a West Virginia casino, robbed a bank, then returned to the blackjack table, was sentenced Thursday to between five and 18 years in prison. (Chris Dorst (Chris Dorst/Charleston Gazette-Mail via AP) (The Associated Press)

A West Virginia man who said he was under the influence of drugs when he left a blackjack table, robbed a bank, then returned to the casino for more gambling has been sentenced to five to 18 years in prison.

Fifty-two-year-old Kerry Johnson of Charleston was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty to second-degree robbery. Kanawha County Circuit Judge Duke Bloom called Johnson's actions "extraordinarily risky behavior."

Johnson put down a $25 chip to hold his spot after hours of gambling Aug. 2 at the Mardi Gras Casino in Nitro. Prosecutors said Johnson then drove 13 miles to a Charleston bank, gave tellers a note saying he had a bomb and a weapon, and robbed it of about $5,000.

Johnson then returned to the casino to resume gambling.

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