FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, September 23, 2021

District Man Sentenced to 51 Months in Federal Prison for Series of Bank Robberies

Defendant Robbed Three Banks in One Day Before Fleeing to Philadelphia in Rented Tesla

            WASHINGTON –Micheal Antonio Smith, 33, of Washington, D.C., has been sentenced to 51 months of imprisonment for robbing three Wells Fargo Bank branches within the District of Columbia.

            The announcement was made by Acting U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal Division Wayne A. Jacobs, and Robert J. Contee III, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Smith pled guilty in June 2021, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, to two counts of bank robbery. A third count charging attempted bank robbery was dismissed at sentencing as part of the plea agreement.  He was sentenced on Sept. 22, 2021, by the Honorable Judge Christopher R. Cooper. Following his prison term, he will be placed on three years of supervised release.

            Smith robbed all three banks within a span of approximately two hours on Sept. 29, 2020. The first robbery took place at approximately 12:18 p.m. at a branch in the 3200 block of Pennsylvania Avenue SE. The others took place at branches in the 600 block of H Street NE and the 1900 block of 14th Street NW. According to the government’s evidence, Smith entered all three branches wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt with a prominent BMW logo and a balaclava style face and head covering. In each bank, Smith presented a note to the demanding large bills and no dye pack. During one of the robberies, Smith reached inside his sweatshirt in a way that suggested his possession of a handgun or other weapon. 

            Smith took the demand note with him after each robbery and robbed the three banks of $1,510 before fleeing the District of Columbia in a rented Tesla Model S. The FBI was able to locate and track that vehicle to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where Smith was located and arrested on Oct. 6, 2020. During a search of the Tesla, FBI agents discovered and seized a grey hooded sweatshirt with a BMW logo and a demand note. Smith has been in custody since his arrest.

            This case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Violent Crime Task Force, which is composed of FBI Special Agents and Task Force Officers from MPD and other law enforcement agencies. The task force is charged with investigating and bringing cases to prosecution against violent offenders within the District of Columbia. 

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Phillips, Special Agent in Charge Jacobs and Chief Contee commended the work of the MPD officers and FBI agents who investigated the case. They acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Rommel Pachoca. Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney James B. Nelson, who investigated and prosecuted the case.