Dougherty trio face sentencing for Colo. chase, shootout
(CBS/AP) DENVER - Three Florida siblings accused of shooting at a police officer and staging a bank robbery in a multistate crime spree are facing sentencing Monday on charges stemming from their shootout and capture in Colorado.
Lee Grace Dougherty, 29, Dylan Stanley-Dougherty, 27, and Ryan Dougherty, 22, pleaded guilty to charges related to the Aug. 10 freeway chase and shootout with police in southern Colorado.
Once 3rd Judicial District Judge Claude Appel hands down their sentences, the U.S. Marshals Service will transport them to Albany, Ga., for a court hearing on May 15, making it likely they'll be transferred from state to federal custody within days, if not hours of sentencing.
U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Steve Wallisch declined to comment, citing security concerns.
Dylan Stanley-Dougherty pleaded guilty to one charge of first-degree assault and faces up to 32 years in prison. Ryan Dougherty pleaded guilty to five counts of menacing and faces up to 20 years in prison.
Their sister, 29-year-old Lee Grace Dougherty, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and two counts of menacing. She faces a maximum of 28 years in prison.
In Georgia, the siblings face bank robbery and firearms charges in connection with a bank robbery in Valdosta on Aug. 2. Witnesses say that two men and a woman, dressed in black and wearing masks, entered the Certus Bank branch just over the Florida state line and fired shots into the ceiling. One carried an AK-47 type assault rifle and an automatic pistol, similar to weapons recovered after the siblings' capture in Colorado.
The widely publicized cross-country manhunt for the Doughertys ended Aug. 10 in Huerfano, Colo., after a chase on Interstate 25.
The Doughertys allegedly fired an AK-47 at pursuing officers before running over spike strips, blowing a tire, rolling their vehicle and crashing into a guardrail.
The trio made off with about $5,200 and had spent about $1,000 of it by the time police caught up with them in Colorado, authorities said.
Ryan Dougherty told authorities in Colorado that the trio hoped to escape to Mexico. The siblings told investigators they traveled across the country in a stolen car, taking back roads to avoid detection.
Lee Dougherty was shot in the knee when she pointed a gun at a police officer after the trio rolled their car . "I deserved to get shot," she told investigators.
