Armed Bank Robber Sentenced To Over 11 Years In Prison For Robbery In Dundalk

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Darrius Roszario D. Washington, age 20, of Baltimore, Maryland, today to 135 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for an armed bank robbery in which Washington forced a teller at gunpoint to accompany him and open the bank vault.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department.

According to Washington’s plea agreement, on October 1, 2013, Washington and his accomplice, Janaya Brittne Person-Robinson parked his car in a lot near the M&T Bank in Dundalk. Person-Robinson had previously been a teller-trainee at the bank and was familiar with the bank layout, procedures and the tellers who worked at the bank. Shortly before 7:30 a.m., Washington and Person-Robinson approached a teller in the parking lot when she got out of her car. Washington pointed a .32 caliber gun at the teller’s head and ordered her to unlock the door of the bank. The teller initially told Washington that she could not open the door but Washington told her he knew she was lying and threatened to “blow her head off,” if she didn’t unlock the door. The teller opened the door and after Washington and Person-Robinson entered the bank, the teller fled and called police.

Once inside the bank, Washington, using information provided by Person-Robinson, approached a second teller, calling her by name. Washington knew that the teller had access to the bank’s vault. Using the gun, Washington forced the teller to accompany him to the vault and ordered her to open the door, threatening that if she did not, she would never see her child, whom Washington called by name, again. The teller opened the vault door and Washington forced her to the floor at gunpoint. Washington removed the money from the vault, while Person-Robinson emptied the cash from the teller drawers. Washington and Person-Robinson then left the bank, carrying a canvas bag filled with $133,600, got into their car and attempted to flee. They were arrested a short time later. Officers recovered the cash stolen from the bank, the gun used during the robbery, and the hats and latex gloves worn by Washington and Person-Robinson during the robbery.

Person-Robinson, age 20, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty to her role in the bank robbery. Judge Bennett has scheduled her sentencing for October 22, 2014, at 3:00 p.m.

Washington and Person-Robinson remain in federal custody.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI and Baltimore County Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Gregory R. Bockin and Judson T. Mihok, who prosecuted the case.