
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 14, 1991                   TAG: 9102140453
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

MAN ADMITS CREDIT UNION ROBBERY

A 19-year-old Roanoke man has admitted he was the gunman in the robbery of a Salem credit union in December.

Dedric Lee Wiley pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Roanoke to charges of conspiring to rob the Roanoke General Electric Employees Federal Credit Union at Lewis-Gale Hospital four days before Christmas.

"I went into the bank with a shotgun and robbed it," Wiley told Judge James Turk. He said he "had an agreement" with other people to carry out the robbery.

Wiley was indicted last month with Ricky Ricardio Johnson and Anthony DeWayne Ramey, both of whom have pleaded innocent to charges of conspiring to rob the credit union.

The indictment charged that Johnson recruited Wiley to be the "holdup man." On Dec. 21, the indictment alleged, Johnson and Wiley picked up Ramey, who had a 12-gauge pistol-grip shotgun with him.

The three rode to the credit union and - with Wiley commanding a teller to fill a bag with money, Ramey serving as the lookout and Johnson behind the wheel of the car - robbed the credit union of $7,521, the indictment charged. In addition to the conspiracy count, Wiley was charged with using force and intimidation in the robbery and jeopardizing the teller's life.

Wiley also was charged with illegal possession of a firearm.

Johnson and Ramey were charged with contributing to Wiley's having the shotgun. Another count charged Ramey - a felon - with illegal firearm possession.

Wiley had escaped from a Roanoke halfway house when FBI agents arrested him last month. He had been serving time on state charges of grand larceny.

After his arrest, Wiley gave authorities an account of the robbery. He faces a maximum 65 years in prison, a $1 million fine or both.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Don Wolthuis said he anticipates making a motion in Wiley's case that would allow the judge to depart from federal sentencing guidelines and impose a lesser sentence.

Wiley will not be sentenced until after his co-defendants' trial, scheduled for March 7 and 8.

by CNB