Washington, D.C. – Donald Kirk, 43, of Springfield, Virginia, pled guilty yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to bank robbery, announced U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor, Joseph Persichini, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Chief Cathy L. Lanier. The Honorable Richard J. Leon scheduled the sentencing hearing for October 3, 2008. Kirk faces a maximum statutory prison sentence of 20 years and a fine of $250,000.

According to the government’s evidence, on May 7, 2007, at approximately 5:40 p.m., Kirk entered the Chevy Chase Bank at 650 F Street, NW, Washington, D.C., and approached teller window number 4. The defendant put a handwritten note under the teller window that read “this is a hold up. Don’t move. Give me all the money. I have a gun and will shoot.” A bank teller placed in the teller slot loose cash, which the defendant took, while another bank teller activated Chevy Chase Bank’s silent alarm system. The defendant left Chevy Chase Bank and fled on foot with the loose cash. The defendant left behind the robbery demand note. This incident was captured on the Chevy Chase Bank surveillance video. The total loss to Chevy Chase Bank was $1,751.00.

On May 9, 2007, the defendant was arrested in Springfield, Virginia, for the bank robbery of the BB&T Bank. FBI Special Agent Mike Pinto, who had been assigned to investigate the robbery of the Chevy Chase Bank on May 7, 2007, learned of the defendant’s arrest. Special Agent Pinto went to the police station in Springfield, Virginia, viewed the defendant and recognized him from the Chevy Chase Bank surveillance video as the individual who had robbed that bank on May 7, 2007. On May 14, 2007, two witnesses separately viewed a photo array and positively identified the defendant as the individual who had committed the robbery of the Chevy Chase Bank on May 7, 2007. On February 8, 2008, Kirk was sentenced in Virginia to a period of incarceration of 11 years for his robbery of the BB&T Bank on May 9, 2007.

In announcing the guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Taylor, FBI Assistant Director in Charge Persichini, Jr., and MPD Chief Lanier commended the outstanding investigative work of FBI Special Agent Mike Pinko and MPD Detective A.J. Johnson. They also praised the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Karla-Dee Clark, who is prosecuting this case and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Louis Ramos, who secured the indictment.