Armed Robber Exiled To 27 Years In Prison

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus sentenced Steven Vondell Williams, age 48, of Washington, D.C., today to 27 years in prison for conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce by robbery, interference with interstate commerce by robbery, possession and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Judge Titus imposed today’s sentence consecutive to a 27 year sentence that Williams is currently serving for murder committed in the District of Columbia.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Acting Assistant Director in Charge Timothy A. Gallagher of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Washington Field Office.

According to evidence presented during the five day trial, on May 3, 2011, Williams and co-defendant Alton May entered the 7-11 store located at 8200 Martin Luther King Jr. Highway in
Glenarden, Maryland. They pointed handguns at an employee of a Loomis Armored vehicle who was carrying money to refill the automated teller machine located in the store and demanded money. The employee gave the gunmen the money bag. One of the gunmen also took the Loomis employee’s handgun.

Williams and May fled in a vehicle and drove to May’s residence in Washington, D.C. On the way, they removed the cash from the Loomis bag and threw the bag into a dumpster. A GPS tracking device, which was in the money, permitted law enforcement to track the money from the store to the dumpster and then finally to May’s residence. Once inside the residence, Williams and May discovered the tracking device in the cash. They destroyed the tracking device. After throwing the cash, three handguns and two baseball caps used in the robbery onto the roof of the building, Williams and May jumped out of the apartment window and fled. From the rooftop of May’s apartment building, officers recovered approximately $30,000 in cash, three handguns, including the one stolen from the Loomis employee, and the baseball caps. Inside the apartment, officers recovered pieces of the broken GPS tracker.

Williams and May were identified through DNA recovered on the two ball caps and arrested.

Alton May, age 50, of Washington, D.C., previously pleaded guilty to his participation in the robbery, was sentenced to 300 months in prison and ordered to pay $180 in restitution.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI for its work in the investigation and thanked Assistant United States Attorney Leah Jo Bressack, who prosecuted the case.