AUGUSTA ROBINSON, augustarobinson@tylerpaper.com

A 25-year-old Lancaster man was sentenced to 14 years and three months in federal prison on Tuesday for two armed robberies he committed in East Texas and a carjacking he committed in Tyler. 

LaQuaylan Wesley Patterson pleaded guilty to committing two armed bank robberies and a related carjacking on Aug. 23, 2016.

Patterson robbed the Cornerstone Credit Union in Lancaster on Aug. 8, 2014, according to information presented in court. At the scene, officials said he brandished a pistol, climbed behind the counter, and demanded money from the bank’s tellers. He got away with $6,888 and left in a stolen vehicle he later abandoned.

On Mar. 13, 2015, Patterson and his co-defendant, Chanel Collins, drove from Wood County, to an apartment complex in Tyler. Once they arrived at the complex, officials said Patterson got out of Collins’ car, armed with a semiautomatic pistol, and told her to wait for his signal.

Patterson then approached a woman, who was visiting her mother at the complex, brandished his pistol, and demanded her car keys. The woman surrendered the keys and Patterson drove away in her car. Officials said Patterson signaled Collins, and she also departed the complex in her car.

Later that day, officials said Patterson used the car to commit an armed bank robbery at the 1st National Bank of Gilmer, located in Big Sandy. 

Patterson drove the stolen vehicle to the bank, brandished a pistol, climbed behind the teller counter and demanded money from the tellers. He made it out of the bank with $29,734. He drove away in the stolen vehicle and officials said he met up with Collins at a local car wash, where the two fled in her car.