Federal jury convicts Gadsden man in Anniston bank robbery

A Gadsden man was convicted by a federal jury Wednesday on bank robbery and conspiracy charges.  33 year old Marcus Tyshun Porter,  was convicted of joining in a conspiracy and acting as a lookout during the July 16, 2008, robbery of an Anniston area  Wachovia Bank branch..  Porter's co-conspirators, Gabriel Rice, Willis Leach and Jesse Key, have already been convicted in the Northern District of Alabama related to the robbery and carjacking. Prosecutors say that Immediately after robbing the bank, the co-conspirators forced two women at gunpoint to drive them back to Gadsden, where they met up with Porter and split up the proceeds.  U.S. District Judge Abdul K Kallon scheduled Porter's sentencing for November 7, 2013.   Prosecutors said the case is part of a larger investigation involving a string of bank robberies occurring in Gadsden and the surrounding area since 2007.