New Jersey Man Sentenced to 8 Years in Federal Prison for Robbing Killingworth Bank

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that LAVON YOUNG, 39, of Union City, New Jersey, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in Bridgeport to 96 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for bank robbery.

According to court documents and statements made in court, at approximately noon on January 27, 2018, YOUNG and David C. Earl drove to a Key Bank branch located on East Main Street in Branford, and planned to rob the bank.  They both exited the car wearing dark upper-body clothing.  YOUNG also wore a dark, hooded sweatshirt and a green “scream mask” over his face.  Earl wore a mask over his lower face, sunglasses over his eyes, and a red-hooded sweatshirt under his overcoat.  The two men walked up to the bank entrance and pulled on the doors, but they were locked.  They returned to their car and drove off.

Less than an hour later, YOUNG and Earl drove to a TD Bank branch on Route 81 in Killingworth.  Dressed the same way when they had attempted to enter the Key Bank in Branford, YOUNG and Earl entered the TD Bank, told everyone to get down and demanded money from the tellers or else they would “blow their heads off.”  Earl possessed a pellet gun during the robbery.  A teller handed over multiple stacks of bills, totaling $9,754, and YOUNG and Earl fled.

YOUNG and Earl threw most of the money out of the windows of their car while driving from the bank, and while being pursued by law enforcement.  They were eventually apprehended by East Haven Police.  Investigators successfully recovered $9,479 of the $9,754 taken during the robbery.

YOUNG and Earl have been detained since January 27, 2018.  On July 11, 2018, YOUNG pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery.

Earl, also of Union City, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to the same charge on May 15, 2018.  He awaits sentencing.

YOUNG’s criminal history includes a federal conviction for robbing a bank in Linden, New Jersey, in December 2008.  In May 2013, he was sentenced in the District of New Jersey to 63 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release.  He was released from federal prison in March 2017 and committed the Killingworth bank robbery while on supervised release.  Supervised release violation proceedings for YOUNG are pending in the District of New Jersey.

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Connecticut State Police, Branford Police Department and East Haven Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Henry Kopel and Douglas Morabito.