Guilty plea in heists involving kidnappings

Families held to force cooperation in thefts from bank, pharmacy.

One of the men involved in two robberies that were described by the FBI as “something out of the movies” pleaded guilty Monday.

Dion Gullatte, 42, pleaded guilty to kidnapping and conspiracy to interfere with commerce.

Between late 2011 and early 2012, Gullatte worked with Shellie Woods, who is believed to have organized both incidents, Terrell Marby, Eric Black and others to rob two Dayton businesses by kidnapping employees and their families, according to court documents. The others are awaiting trial.

Under the direction of Woods, Gullatte assisted in robbing St. Elizabeth’s Pharmacy on Nov. 10, 2011. Gullatte said Woods contacted him and and advised that he, Marby and Black had followed home one of the pharmacy’s employees and were holding him and his family hostage with guns, zip ties and tape. They threatened to harm the man and his family if he did not surrender the alarm codes to the store, according to court documents.

Gullatte picked up Woods and another man that officials have not named. Gullatte said he entered the pharmacy, disabled the alarms and helped steal $30,000 worth of Oxycodone and Percocet pills, according to court documents.

They transported the drugs to Woods’ home on North Upland Avenue in Dayton. Woods kept the bulk of the pills at his home because he had a buyer for the drugs, according to officials.

Gullatte also admitted to participating in another robbery months later.

Gullatte assisted Woods and others in kidnapping an employee of the U.S. Bank on 2350 Gettysburg Avenue on Feb. 15, 2012.

Woods and others broke into the bank teller’s home and used firearms, zip ties and tape to restrain her husband and two daughters. The men waited for the teller to return home from work and threatened to kill her family if she did not give them codes to the alarm and the bank’s vault, according to court documents.

Once the family was subdued, Woods ordered Gullatte to transport the bank teller’s family to his home on North Upland. Officials say Gullatte placed the bank teller’s family in a P.T. cruiser and started to drive them to the residence, but Woods changed his mind and had them returned to their home and continued to hold them hostage.

The group of men waited until the next morning to attempt to enter the bank with the kidnapped employee to steal money from the vault, according to court documents.

Guallatte served as the getaway driver and the lookout as the group of men stole $90,000 in cash from the bank. They stashed the money in Woods’ home, investigators said. Gullatte received $1,500 from the robbery, according to court documents.

DNA evidence, phone records and surveillance video obtained by the FBI led to the arrests in June.

Shortly after Gullatte pleaded guilty, his attorney, Jefffery Slyman, said, “My client wanted to accept responsibility for his actions … he got caught up in a situation he really did not want to be a part of.”

Gullatte’s sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 26.

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