Serial Armed Robber Sentenced to 9 Years in Federal Prison for Committing Five Armed Robberies of Convenience Stores

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang sentenced Kione Anthony Banks, age 21, of Washington, D.C., to nine years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, on federal charges of robbery, and using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.  The federal charges arose from a series of armed robberies of 7-Eleven convenience stores.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Chief Henry P. Stawinski III of the Prince George’s County Police Department; Chief J. Thomas Manger of the Montgomery County Police Department; Anne Arundel County Police Chief Tim Altomare; and Interim Chief Amal Awad of the Hyattsville Police Department.

According Banks’ plea agreement, from May 17, 2017 through June 16, 2017, Banks conspired with Tyrone Jason Murphy, Leighton Cordell Williams, and Banks’ brother, Khiry Delonte Banks to commit five armed robberies of 7-Eleven convenience stores.  The defendants wore clothing to partially conceal their faces. In four of the robberies Kione Banks brandished a firearm during the robbery and ordered the store employees to open their cash registers at gunpoint.  In the fifth robbery, Murphy and Williams brandished firearms.

Specifically, Banks admitted committing robberies in Gaithersburg and Derwood, Maryland, on May 17, 2017, with Murphy and Williams.  Banks committed three additional robberies on June 16, 2017, in Glen Burnie, Millersville, and Morningside, Maryland, with all three of his co-defendants.  In the June 16^th robberies, Murphy drove his co-defendants in a vehicle registered in the name of an associate.  After the robbery in Morningside, Murphy drove onto Suitland Parkway and Prince George’s County Police officers executed a traffic stop on the vehicle.  A subsequent search of the vehicle recovered two firearms, cash, and cigarettes stolen during the robberies.

Khiry Banks, age 29; Murphy, age 27; and Williams, age 32, all of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty to the same federal charges in relation to their participation in the 7-Eleven robberies. A total of ten 7-Elevens throughout Maryland were robbed by members of this group.

Khiry Banks, Murphy, and Williams each face a maximum of 20 years in prison for robbery and a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years, and up to life in prison, consecutive to any other sentence imposed, for using, carrying and brandishing a firearm.   Judge Chuang has scheduled sentencing for Murphy on October 23, 2018 at 9:30 a.m.  No sentencing date has been set for Khiry Banks or Williams.

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 FBI Cross Border Task Force, the Anne Arundel, Montgomery, and Prince George’s County Police Departments, and the City of Hyattsville Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy F. Hagan, who is prosecuting the case.