Woman Sentenced to Prison for Role in Armed Robberies

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A Newport News woman was sentenced today to approximately 15 years in prison for conspiring with others to commit armed robberies of businesses throughout southeastern Virginia in December 2014.

According to court documents, Aquilla Jones, 29, worked together with several individuals to rob businesses at gun point. Jones and her co-conspirators would drive around southeastern Virginia in an attempt to identify businesses to be robbed. Once the victim business was identified, Jones would drive her co-conspirators to the business and serve as a look-out while others went inside. The co-conspirators who entered the businesses brandished handguns as money was demanded from the employees. Jones participated in the robbery of eight businesses located in Fredericksburg, Newport News, Chesapeake, Yorktown and Virginia Beach. 

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Martin Culbreth, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric M. Hurt prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:18-cr-27.