District Man Sentenced to More Than Nine Years in Prison for Taking Part in Armed Robbery of Armored Truck

He and Two Others Carried Out Brazen Mid-Afternoon Crime

WASHINGTON—Richard Lee, 32, was sentenced today to nine years and two months in prison for the armed robbery of a Brink’s armored truck, announced U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr.; James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

During the brazen, mid-afternoon robbery, Lee and two others held the truck’s guard at gunpoint and escaped with a significant amount of money.

Lee, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty earlier this year to armored car robbery. Two others—David Reddix, 23, of Temple Hills, Maryland, and Tyronda Ferrell, 23, of Hyattsville, Maryland, also pled guilty to the charge in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Reddix was sentenced in June 2011 to 80 months in prison. Ferrell was sentenced in May 2011, also to 80 months of incarceration. All three defendants were sentenced by the Honorable Ellen S. Huvelle.

According to the government’s evidence, Ferrell, then a guard for Brink’s, had several conversations prior to the crime with Reddix about robbing a Brink’s armored truck. Reddix, a longtime friend to Ferrell, recruited another friend, Lee, to assist with the robbery.

Reddix and Ferrell developed a plan that they carried out on September 2, 2010, when Brink’s dispatched an armored truck to deliver and pick up money and other valuables from banks and businesses in Northern Virginia. Ferrell was one of two armed guards and the driver of the truck. Once Ferrell completed her normal pick-ups in Northern Virginia, she then drove the truck to a Wendy’s restaurant in the 4000 block of Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue NE.

At the Wendy’s, at about 2:40 p.m., Ferrell parked the armored truck and, shortly afterward, the second guard was approached by Reddix and Lee. Reddix, wearing a mask and carrying a pellet gun that closely resembled a handgun, ordered the second guard to open the door to the truck.

Reddix and Lee entered the truck, ordered the second guard to fill a bag with money, and instructed Ferrell to drive away. The second guard was forced into the rear of the truck, where Lee took his gun. Lee and Reddix remained in the back of the armored truck, holding the second guard at gunpoint, while Ferrell drove the armored truck to an alley on 45th Street NE.

Reddix and Lee then left with the money that they took from the vehicle. They planned to meet Ferrell later that night to split the stolen money. However, Ferrell was arrested that night, and Reddix and Lee were arrested within days.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen, Assistant Director McJunkin, and Chief Lanier commended the exceptional investigative work of the FBI/MPD Violent Crimes Task Force and MPD Detective Buddy Baylor. They also thanked Legal Assistant LaToya Wade, who provided administrative support, and the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section, which assisted with the investigation. Lastly, they praised Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine K. Connelly, who prosecuted the cases.