Former Atlanta Officer Involved in 2019 Armed Robbery of Bankroll Freddie Sentenced a Decade in Prison
A dishonored former Atlanta police officer was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in the 2019 armed robbery of Bankroll Freddie.
According to documents obtained by XXL from the Cobb County District Attorney's Office, ex-Atlanta cop, Justin Mikale Thorne, pleaded guilty to three felonies: Armed Robbery, Impersonating an Officer and Aggravated Assault on May 1, 2022. For his involvement in the armed robbery of Bankroll Freddie, the disgraced cop was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
On Monday (May 22), Atlanta news staton WSB-TV aired surveillance video and photos of the robbery incident, which took place on Oct. 17, 2019. You can watch it below.
Apparently, Thorne was working with two other robbery suspects to rob Freddie at the Comfort Inn and Suites in Cobb County, Ga. Thorne can be seen in surveillance photos pulling into a parking spot at the motel and talking with two men in a Toyota Camry. Several minutes later, surveillance footage and video show Thorne in his police uniform, along with a badge and gun, serving as a lookout as the men rob Freddie and his cousin.
Interestingly, WSB-TV reports that Thorne resigned two weeks before the armed robbery amid allegations that he offered to take a payment from a suspect with an outstanding warrant in return for making it disappear. At a bond hearing in 2019, Thorne's attorney, Lenny Franco, told the judge that his client got involved because someone had threatened the ex-cop and his family.
It's unclear if the two other robbery suspects are facing charges in the criminal case as well.
As for Bankroll Freddie, born Freddie Gladney III, he's in an Arkansas jail after being indicted in a federal investigation involving 80 people. The crimes range from conspiracy to distribute narcotics to weapons violations. Freddie is one of 35 people indicted in association with an active Arkansas street gang Every Body Killas (EBK).
Freddie was arrested on Nov. 10, 2022. At the time of his arrest, the 28-year-old rapper was under another indictment in federal court on drug and gun charges and was on pre-trial release after an April 2022 arrest by state police in Crittenden County, Ark. In that arrest, he was charged with a range of offenses including conspiracy to distribute marijuana, possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and possession of a machine gun.
Before his incarceration, Bankroll Freddie was a rising star on the Quality Control Music label. In April 2021, he dropped his album Big Bank, which boasts guest appearances Megan Thee Stallion, Gucci Mane, 2 Chains, Big30 and the late Young Dolph.