OKLAHOMA CITY – An Oklahoma City man with a lengthy criminal record was sentenced to serve 11 years and three months in federal prison for armed bank robbery of a Lawton branch bank and possessing and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime.
A grand jury returned a two-count indictment Feb. 7, 2023, against Akin Zhon Wofford, 29, accusing him of the armed robbery of an Oklahoma City branch of Lawton’s City National Bank and Trust on Nov. 7, 2022. A federal jury convicted him on Aug. 21, 2024.
Evidence presented at trial showed that Wofford entered a branch of the bank, waited several minutes in the lobby, then pulled out a firearm, jumped over the teller counter, pointed it at a bank employee, and demanded money.
Wofford opened the teller drawer and grabbed handfuls of cash before exiting the bank. An investigation into the vehicle used during the bank robbery ultimately led authorities to Wofford. Law enforcement officers later searched his residence and found clothes similar to those worn by the robbery during the bank holdup. He was arrested 11 days after the holdup.
A pre-sentencing investigation found that both of Wofford’s parents were imprisoned, so he was raised by an aunt. In addition, at 19 he was sentenced to prison and was released six years later.
At the sentencing hearing on Jan. 9, 2025, U.S. District Judge David L. Russell sentenced Wofford to serve 135 months in federal prison: 51 months for robbing the bank and 84 months for brandishing a gun while doing it. In announcing the sentence, the judge noted the circumstances of the offense, including the risk of danger caused by the robbery, and Wofford’s history of violence.
This was Wofford’s second conviction for armed robbery.
In 2014 he was charged in Oklahoma County District Court with armed robbery, using a vehicle to facilitate the intentional discharge of a firearm, possession of a firearm, and obstructing a law enforcement officer.
He pleaded guilty in 2015 and was sentenced to a total of 12 years in prison, with seven years to serve and five years of probation. Wofford was in the custody of the state Department of Corrections from July 2015 until October 2020, DOC records reflect.
Afterward he was accused of committing seven more state crimes plus the bank robbery.
In 2021, Wofford was charged in Oklahoma County with being a felon in possession of a firearm and a misdemeanor charge of domestic assault and battery. A pretrial conference on both of those charges is scheduled for Feb. 19, 2025.
Also in 2021, Wofford was charged in Oklahoma County with domestic assault and battery by strangulation, but that case was dismissed eight months later because of “witness unavailability.”
Wofford was charged in Oklahoma County in May 2022 with grand larceny and obtaining property by deception or false representation. A pretrial conference in that felony case is set for April 2, 2025.
In November 2022 he was charged in Oklahoma City, again with armed robbery, but that case was dismissed by state prosecutors on Jan. 8, 2025, in lieu of Wofford’s federal prosecution.
In January 2023 Wofford was arrested by Oklahoma City police for motor vehicle theft and for eluding a police officer.
Subsequently Wofford failed to appear seven months later for a pretrial conference in Oklahoma County District Court on the 2021 felony firearm possession charge, and an arrest warrant was issued. He was arraigned in April 2024 for failure to appear and his bail was upped to $40,000.
Wofford was released to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service on May 7, 2024. He is scheduled to return to Oklahoma County District Court later this month on state criminal charges.