Bank Robber in Runoff Race for Louisiana House

(RepublicanNews.org) – When Ronald Reagan ran for President in 1980, many Americans remarked that it seemed “off” for a Hollywood actor to run for the nation’s highest office. But today, actors in politics have become normalized.

In Louisiana, apparently, so have convicted criminals.

As of February 20th, Sibil “Fox” Richardson is in a runoff against opponent Alonzo Knox for a vacant seat in the Louisiana House. In 1997, Richardson and her husband Robert came up with a plan to rob a bank to pay off debt accrued by their small business.

Sibil Richardson dropped her husband off at the bank and was supposed to act as the getaway driver until plans suddenly changed, and her husband told her to leave the area.

Robert Richardson was convicted and given a 60-year prison sentence, which he was serving until the Louisiana governor gave him clemency in 2018 after a sympathetic documentary featuring the couple. Sibil Richardson took a plea deal and ended up serving three and a half years in prison.

In a 2017 newspaper interview, Sibil Richardson called the couple’s actions “the most horrendous decision we ever made.” The couple’s six children were left in the care of relatives while Sibil Richardson served her prison term.

Both Richardson and her opponent Alonzo Knox are Democrats. They both gathered enough votes on February 18th to be placed in a runoff that will decide who represents the 93rd District, which includes large parts of New Orleans.

The seat for the 93rd District has been vacant since December 2022, when then-representative Royce Duplessis was elected to the state senate and sworn in.

District 93 includes the Uptown and Downtown portions of New Orleans, as well as parts of the historic Garden Districts, which draws tourists with its stately Southern homes and gothic atmosphere. The entire district is solidly Democratic-voting.

Richardson’s opponent, Alonzo Knox, owns a coffee shop in the city. The runoff election will take place in March 2023. 

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