District Man Sentenced to Over 13 Years in Prison For Two Armed Robberies Of Commercial Businesses in the Same Week

            WASHINGTON – Malik Mingo, 20, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to a prison term of 13 years and five months stemming from two separate armed robberies of commercial businesses in September 2015 in Southeast Washington, announced U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips, Paul M. Abbate, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Peter Newsham, Interim Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Mingo pled guilty in August 2016, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, to one count of interference with interstate commerce by robbery, and one count of using, carrying, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence as to two separate offenses. He was sentenced by the Honorable Rosemary M. Collyer. Upon completion of his prison term, Mingo will be placed on 30 months of supervised release.

            According to the government’s evidence, on Sept. 19, 2015, at approximately 12:50 p.m., Mingo, while masked, and with at least two additional masked individuals, entered Pizza Bolis, a pizza shop in the 1500 block of Alabama Avenue SE. During the robbery, a gun was placed at the head of the cashier and approximately $213 was stolen from the register. Mingo and his accomplices also stole $1,800 and a cellphone from a customer inside the pizzeria. The masked individuals were seen leaving the area in a black Infinity SUV.

            Four days later, on Sept. 23, 2015, at approximately noon, Mingo and his accomplice, Jarred Thomas, entered the “Like That 2” barber shop in the 3300 block of Stanton Road SE, while wearing masks and brandishing loaded firearms. The barber shop was located around the corner from the Pizza Bolis that had been robbed four days earlier. At gunpoint, Mingo ordered everyone to the ground and demanded that they hand over their money. Numerous victims were robbed at gunpoint of cash and possessions. Present during the armed robbery was a small child.  After the robbery, Mingo was observed leaving the area in a black Infinity SUV that matched the vehicle seen leaving the Pizza Bolis pizzeria. Mingo subsequently was apprehended by the police three blocks from the barber shop and a firearm was recovered in his flight path. The black Infinity SUV used by Mingo was located and identified as having been stolen in a separate armed robbery eight days earlier.

            Thomas, 20, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty in May 2016, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, to charges stemming from the barber shop robbery, including one count of interference with interstate commerce by robbery, one count of using, carrying, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and one count of unauthorized use of a vehicle. He was sentenced on July 13, 2016 to a prison term of 121 months.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Phillips, Assistant Director in Charge Abbate, and Interim Chief Newsham commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Violent Crime Task Force of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Candace Battle, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Macchiaroli, of the Violent Crimes and Narcotics Trafficking Section, who prosecuted the matter.