District Man Pleads Guilty to Bank Robbery for Hold-Up at Branch in Downtown Washington

Defendant Arrested Minutes After the Crime

            WASHINGTON – Paul Bernard Jones, 58, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to a federal bank robbery charge for a hold-up last summer in downtown Washington, announced U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu, Nancy McNamara, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Jones pled guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The plea, which is subject to the Court’s approval, calls for an agreed-upon prison sentence of 70 to 87 months, to be followed by five years of supervised release. The Honorable Amy Berman Jackson scheduled sentencing for April 30, 2019,

            According to plea documents, on June 11, 2018, at approximately 9:10 a.m., Jones entered a TD Bank branch in the 1700 block of Connecticut Avenue NW. He walked up to a teller, took a wadded-up piece of paper, and tossed it at her. He then stated “give me everything, give me hundreds, fifties, and twenties only and don’t push anything. I have something on me.” The wadded-up piece of paper also demanded money and contained a threat. The teller provided Jones with $1,450 in cash and he fled the bank.

            Within minutes, the Metropolitan Police Department and FBI responded to the bank. An MPD officer observed Jones at the intersection of 14th and R Streets NW, a few blocks from the bank. He tried to run, but was immediately apprehended. Law enforcement located $1,433 in cash in a search of the defendant. Jones has been in custody since his arrest.

            The prosecution grew out of the efforts of the FBI Bank Robbery Task Force.

            In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Liu, Assistant Director in Charge McNamara, 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 also expressed appreciation for the work of those who handled the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Catherine O’Neal and Legal Assistant Emma Atlas of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Rosen of the Violent Crime and Narcotics Trafficking Section, who is prosecuting the matter.