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U.S. Department of Justice PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Washington, D.C. - A 29-year-old Southeast District man, Ronald J. Lawson, has been
sentenced to 57 months in prison for robbing a Citibank branch in Northeast Washington, D.C. and then attempting to rob the same bank several days later, U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor announced today.
Lawson, formerly of the 4800 block Alabama Avenue, SE, Washington, D.C., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court before the Honorable Colleen Kollar-Kotally, who also ordered the defendant to make restitution in the amount of $3,060. Lawson pled guilty on March 20, 2007.
According to the statement of offense filed in this matter, which was agreed to by Lawson and his attorney, at approximately 2:22 p.m. on January 9, 2007, the defendant entered the Citibank located at 3917 Minnesota Avenue, NE, Washington, D.C., and asked a teller if he could open an account. The defendant was told to wait in the lobby until a representative was available to assist him. After waiting several minutes, the defendant stood up and walked up to a second teller who also advised him to wait in the lobby for a representative.
The defendant sat down briefly, but thereafter stood in the teller line until a third teller was available. The defendant then presented the third teller with two business cards (to simulate two forms of identification) and a demand note with the following writing on it: "$2500.00 dollars in cash, $20 dollar bills only or someone behind me dies...and no dye packs." In addition, the defendant implied during at least one moment that he had a weapon by placing his right hand into his jacket. The defendant did not make any verbal contact with this teller.
The teller first removed a total of fifty-three $20 dollar bills from his top drawer and placed it into an electronic money counter. After realizing that this amount did not meet the demand of $2500.00, the teller removed a strap of $20 dollar bills totaling $2,000.00 from his bottom drawer and gave it to the defendant for a total of $3,060. No bait money or dye pack were given to the defendant. The defendant then fled the bank on foot toward an adjacent shopping center in an unknown direction.
On January 17, 2007, the defendant returned to the Citibank located at 3917 Minnesota Avenue, NE, Washington, D.C. Upon entering the bank he walked to the window of a teller and handed the teller a note which read “$20,000 cash or someone dies and return the note.” Within seconds, the silent bank alarm was activated, and members of the Sixth District Metropolitan Police Department arrived shortly thereafter and detained the defendant. After the defendant was identified by five of the six bank tellers who were present at the previous bank robbery as the person who had robbed the bank on January 9, 2007, he was placed under arrest.
In a subsequent videotaped statement which the defendant gave after being advised of his Miranda rights, he admitted that he had robbed the Citibank on January 9, 2007, and that he had attempted to rob the same bank on January 17, 2007.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Taylor praised the hard work of FBI Special Agent Daniel K. Bremer who investigated this case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra L. Long-Doyle who prosecuted this matter.
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