32-Year Sentence for Armored Car Robbery

ALEXANDRIA, VA—Christopher Blakeney, age 21, of Prince William County, Va., was sentenced to 384 months in prison today for his involvement in a string of armored car robberies that occurred in Prince William and Fairfax Counties.

Dana J. Boente, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Joseph Persichini Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by United States District Judge James C. Cacheris.

Blakeney had entered a guilty plea in United States District Court in Alexandria, Va., on May 13, 2009. Blakeney and his conspirators stole approximately $360,000 in three separate robberies, each occurring when a Loomis armored car employee was in the process of loading an ATM machine with money.

According to court documents, Blakeney conspired with Carlic Brown and Michael Blakeney to steal money from Loomis armored cars. The conspirators—at times wearing all black clothing and black-and-white masks that resembled a skull—pointed firearms at Loomis employees while the employees were in the process of filling an ATM, took a bag full of money and fled the scene. After their arrest, searches of the residences of Brown and Christopher Blakeney yielded two semi-automatic handguns, one shotgun, and rubber skull masks, among other things.

The first robbery occurred on April 4, 2007, near a Wachovia ATM in Lorton, Va., where a Loomis employee was robbed of approximately $80,000. The second occurred on Feb. 1, 2008, near a Navy Federal Credit Union ATM in Fairfax, Va., and involved $120,000. The third, involving $160,000, occurred on April 1, 2009, near a Bank of America ATM in Prince William County, Va.

Christopher Blakeney is one of three defendants who have pleaded guilty in this case. Michael Blakeney, age 20, of New York, was sentenced to 84 months on July 17, 2009. Carlic Brown, age 25, of Prince William County, Va., is scheduled to be sentenced on August 28, 2009.

This case was investigated by the Washington Field Office of the FBI, Prince William County, Fairfax City, Fairfax County and the United States Marshals Service. Assistant United States Attorneys Benjamin L. Hatch and Jonathan Fahey are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.uspci.uscourts.gov.

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