Miami Resident Convicted at Trial of Robbing Miami Shores TD Bank at Gunpoint and Brandishing and Discharging Firearm in Furtherance of the Armed Robbery

Following a one-week jury trial, on September 21, 2018, Joudanorve Lafleur, of Miami, Florida, was convicted of armed bank robbery, and brandishing and discharging a firearm in furtherance of the armed robbery. 

Ariana Fajardo Orshan, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and Robert Lasky, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office made the announcement.

According to evidence presented at trial, at approximately 9:20 a.m. on April 20, 2018 at a TD Bank in Miami Shores, Lafleur, wearing a black ski mask, black hoodie, and pants, robbed two bank tellers and one bank customer at gunpoint.  After repeatedly demanding “all of the hundreds” from his victims, Lafleur fired a bullet into the ceiling of the bank.  Then, he fled, with more than $2,000. 

The FBI tracked Lafleur to his residence within an hour of the robbery, and after a search of Lafleur’s home, investigators recovered his disguise (mask and hoodie), the stolen money, and the firearm used in the robbery, among other items.  Evidence at trial also showed that Lafleur robbed one of his elderly neighbors, stealing his clothes in the minutes before law enforcement arrived, in an attempt to distance himself from the crime and change his appearance.  The trial evidence included witness testimony, bank surveillance video, DNA expert testimony, and cellular telephone analysis. 

Sentencing is scheduled before U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez on December 5, 2018, at 2:00 p.m.  Lafleur faces up to twenty five years in prison for the bank robbery and a consecutive mandatory minimum term of ten years to life in prison for brandishing and discharging the firearm offense of conviction.

This case stems from Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that brings 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.

Mrs. Fajardo Orshan commended the investigative efforts of the FBI in this matter.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lisa H. Miller and Jessica K. Obenauf. 

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.