Serial Bank Robber Exiled to Over 17 Years in Prison

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced John Edward Hayes, age 46, formerly of Baltimore, today to 209 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for armed bank robbery, use of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence and illegal possession of a firearm.  Judge Bennett ordered Hayes to pay restitution of $17,697.11, the amount of the banks’ losses.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Kevin Perkins of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Commissioner Kevin Davis of the Baltimore Police Department; Chief J. Thomas Manger of the Montgomery County Police Department; Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department; and Colonel Edwin C. Roessler, Jr., Chief of the Fairfax County (Virginia) Police Department.

According to his plea agreement, from February to May 2014, Hayes robbed a string of banks in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. metropolitan areas.  On several occasions Hayes presented the teller with a note stating that he had a gun, or told the teller that he had a gun.

Specifically, Hayes robbed the PNC Bank on North Charles Street in Baltimore on February 3; the Wells Fargo Bank on North Rolling Road in Catonsville on February 18 and again on March 14, the Capitol One Bank on New Hampshire Avenue in Silver Spring on April 21, and the Capitol One Bank on Georgia Avenue in Wheaton on April 28.

On May 1, Hayes robbed the SunTrust Bank located on Baltimore National Pike in Columbia using a handgun.  The handgun was seized when he was taken into custody on May 6, 2014.  A security officer encountered Hayes in the restroom of a McDonald’s.  Hayes was seriously injured by a gunshot from the security guard.

The total amount Hayes stole in the six bank robberies was $17,697.11.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI, Baltimore County and City Police Departments, Montgomery County Police Department and the Fairfax County (Virginia) Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorney P. Michael Cunningham and Special Assistant United States Attorney Lauren Perry, who prosecuted the case.