Greenbelt, MD – U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang sentenced Antonio Raymond Leach, age 45, of Washington, D.C., on September 10, 2018, to 10 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for armed commercial robbery and for using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Special Agent in Charge Rob Cekada of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; and Chief Henry P. Stawinski III of the Prince George’s County Police Department.
According to his plea agreement, on April 2, 2017, Leach and two co-conspirators robbed a business in District Heights, Maryland. Leach and one co-conspirator entered the store, while the second co-conspirator drove the get-away car. After entering the store, Leach pointed the loaded gun at one victim, while the co-conspirator made the second victim open the both cash registers. The co-conspirator took cash from both registers and Leach and the co-conspirator fled in the waiting car. Prince George’s County Police officers stopped the car and located the $195 stolen from the business in the car. Near the car, officers located the 7.62-caliber semi-automatic handgun used during the robbery and the blue latex gloves worn by the co-conspirator. The gun was loaded with five rounds of ammunition in the magazine and one round in the chamber. Leach and his co-conspirators were arrested. The co-conspirators were convicted on related state charges.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime.
United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended the ATF and the Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gregory Bernstein and Ray D. McKenzie, who prosecuted the case.