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An Orangeburg man spent his 30th birthday Thursday facing a charge of robbing a bank, a charge that resulted in a seven-year sentence.
Charles Leroy McDuffie pleaded guilty to entering a financial institute with the intent to steal.
"That day you acted with extreme violence," Circuit Court Judge Ferrell Cothran said. "You are going to have to pay for that decision."
Considering McDuffie's military service and clean record, Cothran said Thursday's decision was a difficult one to make.
"But you made a terrible decision that day," the judge said.
Cothran sentenced the Cordova Road man to 12 years, suspended to seven and another three years of probation after he gets out of prison. The seven years will have to be served day for day with no time off for good behavior.
View a video clip of McDuffie's plea
"I support the judge's decision. He had a tough one to make," First Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe said. "Mr. McDuffie is a father, served his country for six years, has no prior record. He made a poor decision when he entered the SCB&T with a toy gun to rob them."
Assistant Solicitor Glenn Justis said McDuffie arrived at the South Carolina Bank and Trust in Elloree at 5:45 a.m. on April 17.
"Mr. McDuffie lurked in the bushes, watching as each employee of the bank arrived for work that day," Justis said. "He watched as customers entered the bank and, finally, around 1000 hours when he was sure there was no customers in the bank, he made his move."
Armed with what appeared to be a silver handgun, "McDuffie entered the bank yelling, 'Get the f - - - down and no one will get hurt,'" Justis said.
The gunman then jumped over the counter and began rifling through the teller drawers.
"At one point, Mr. McDuffie dropped his pistol onto the floor directly in front of Ms. (Rebekah) Felkel," Justis said. "McDuffie shouted, 'Stay the f - - - down,' and picked up the pistol."
Felkel told the court that moment face to face with a gunman has been a recurring nightmare.
"I thought I or one of my co-workers may be shot, I feared I may never be able to have children with my husband and the possible loss of not being able to share with him was devastating," she said. "I also fear more greatly for my co-workers, I saw the panic and fear in their faces that day. Those images will never leave my mind."
The former U.S. Army and Air Force serviceman then fled the bank where he met with Elloree police units outside. In the ensuing chase, McDuffie lost the nearly $4,000 he had snatched, either threw away or dropped his gun and knife, and then broke into a nearby home, police say.
The robber then ran to a wooded area near Joe Miller Park and called 911 to report a carjacking at a location on the other side of town.
However, 911 personnel were able to find the man's location and discovered he was in the area of the bank robbery suspect.
"911 operators were able to pinpoint where the calls were coming from as an area near 670 Lexington Street," Justis said. "This was also the same area that the defendant had last been spotted."
The silver handgun tied to the case turned out to be a toy from a video game.
However, a 12-inch butcher's knife McDuffie lost in his flight was not a toy. Justis entered into evidence bank security photos and those taken by law enforcement, including the butcher's knife covered in red paint from an exploding dye pack.
Pascoe said earlier he consulted with the U.S. Attorney's office in Columbia to consider adjudicating the case in federal court. But in federal court, a toy gun only carries a sentence of up to five years.
"After hearing that, I took it," the solicitor said.
As part of a line of a dozen character witnesses, Woodrow Morgan of the South Carolina State University Police Department said he spoke not as a law enforcement officer but as a deacon in McDuffie's church.
"I was shocked, because that's not the Charles I know," said Morgan, dressed in a SCSUPD uniform. "Our church will continue to support him, what comes of it."
Prior to sentencing, defense attorney Carl Grant had asked Cothran for one of two possible sentences: a probationary sentence or a maximum of five years.
"We feel that 10 years would be excessive," Grant said.
Justis countered, however, that the state felt 10 years would be a starting point when considering prison time.
"Jail is exactly where he belongs," Justis said.
Bank manager Barbara Butler said the incident stands out as the single most terrifying day she's experienced.
"Today, I hope we can depend on the justice system," Butler said.
Cothran called for a 10-minute recess before he made his decision.
McDuffie apologized, offering the explanation that he's been "living inside a prison inside" himself.
"It would take to much time to explain," he said. "I drew no satisfaction from this at all."
T&D Staff Writer Richard Walker can be reached by e-mail at rwalker@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5516.