District Man Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Robbing Banks in Downtown Washington

Defendant Committed the Crimes Soon After Release from Prison for Other Bank Robberies

          WASHINGTON – Timothy L. Jennings, Sr., 61, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to five years in prison for robbing two banks in downtown Washington, announced U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu, Matthew J. DeSarno, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal Division, and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Jennings pled guilty in April 2018, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, to two counts of bank robbery. He was sentenced by the Honorable Tanya S. Chutkan. In addition to the prison term, Jennings was ordered to pay a total of $1,367 in restitution to the two banks. Following his prison term, he will be placed on three years of supervised release.

            According to the government’s evidence, Jennings carried out the first robbery on July 17, 2017, at approximately 9:05 a.m., targeting a SunTrust Bank in the 900 block of 17th Street NW. Jennings told a teller: “This is a robbery and I have a gun and I'll shoot you,” and demanded money. The teller handed him a total of $926 and Jennings fled the scene.

            The second robbery took place four days later, on July 21, 2017, at approximately 9:20 a.m. This time, Jennings entered an M&T Bank in the 500 block of 12th Street NW and handed the teller a note demanding money. The teller handed him $441 and Jennings fled.

            In his plea, Jennings also accepted responsibility for two additional bank robberies, which took place later on the morning of July 21, within an hour of the M&T Bank robbery.  In both incidents, he left the banks without money. One attempt took place at a BB&T branch in the 800 block of Connecticut Avenue NW and the other at a Bank of America branch in the 800 block of 17th Street NW. Hours after these incidents, officers from the Metropolitan Police Department located Jennings and arrested him. He has been in custody ever since.

            At the time of these offenses, Jennings had been on supervised release for a few months after serving more than 10 years in prison for several additional bank robberies.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Liu, Special Agent in Charge DeSarno, and Chief Newsham commended the work of those who investigated the case from the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Metropolitan Police Department. They expressed appreciation for the efforts of those who worked in the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, including Paralegal Specialists Jeannette Litz and Teesha Tobias and Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory V. Cole, who prosecuted the case.