District Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison
For Two Armed Robberies at Northeast Washington Laundromat
– Defendant Victimized Same Employee Twice in Eight Days, in Broad Daylight –

     WASHINGTON - Lawrence White, 41, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 20 years in prison on charges stemming from two separate robberies of a Northeast Washington laundromat last summer, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced.

     White was convicted by a jury in March 2012 of armed robbery and carrying a dangerous weapon. He was sentenced by the Honorable Herbert B. Dixon, Jr., in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

     According to the government’s evidence, on August 14, 2011, at about 5:40 p.m., White entered a laundromat in the 1600 block of Benning Road NE. Once inside, he went into a private office and brandished a knife at an employee, escaping with several hundred dollars in cash.

     Just eight days later, on August 22, 2011, at about 1:20 p.m., White returned to the establishment and robbed the same employee, showing the same knife and taking hundreds of dollars in cash from a cash drawer. During the second robbery, a surveillance camera captured White running into the office and then exiting the scene.

     The surveillance video led directly to White’s identification and arrest a few days later.

     In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen commended the detectives and officers who investigated the case for the Metropolitan Police Department. He also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegals Tameka Garcia and Donville Drummond, Information Technology Specialists Tracy Van Atta and Leif Hickling, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Bednar, who investigated and tried the case.

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