District Man Pleads Guilty to Series of Armed Robberies of Businesses in the Adams Morgan Neighborhood

            WASHINGTON – Tarik Laghrib, 44, of Northwest Washington D.C., pleaded guilty today to multiple violent crime offenses arising from a series of armed and unarmed robberies and burglaries that targeted small businesses in the District’s Adams Morgan neighborhood in January and February of 2023, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Acting Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            According to court documents, MPD officers arrested Laghrib in the early hours of Feb. 19, 2023, hours after he assaulted and robbed a clerk at Metro Wine & Spirits on the 1700 block of Columbia Rd. Police tracked Laghrib to a nearby apartment building. Officers apprehended Laghrib when he later emerged with a bottle of stolen liquor. Police had been investigating several other burglaries and robberies in the community that had begun in January 2023. As a result of the investigation, police and prosecutors linked Laghrib to that crime spree, which ended with Laghrib’s arrest and pre-trial detention.

            As part of his plea agreement, Laghrib admitted in D.C. Superior Court to the armed robbery of the liquor store and also admitted to an assault and second-degree theft at the Chocolate House on 18^th Street on Feb. 2, 2023. In addition, he admitted that he returned to the Chocolate House the next day and robbed its owner. Minutes after that robbery, Laghrib proceeded to the Cosmo Nail Bar where he committed another robbery.

            Superior Court Judge Jason Park scheduled sentencing for Jan. 12, 2024. Laghrib faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of $75,000 for the armed robbery count, and an additional 15 years in prison and $37,500 fine for each of the additional robbery counts.

            This case was investigated by the MPD’s Third District Detectives Unit and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Wes Faulkner, Jr. and Joshua Hall.