Source: US FBI
WASHINGTON – Jonathon Brown-Murphy, 44, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court to 63 months in federal prison for committing a spree of bank robberies— both attempted and successful—on May 23 and May 25, 2022, in Maryland and Washington, DC.
The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro, Assistant Director in Charge Steven J. Jensen of the FBI Washington Field Office, and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.
Brown-Murphy pleaded guilty on July 12, 2023, to an Information charging him with three counts of bank robbery. In addition to the 63-month prison term, U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon ordered Brown-Murphy to serve three years of supervised release.
According to court documents, Brown-Murphy robbed or attempted to rob six banks over two days in Maryland and Washington, DC. Brown-Murphy covered his face in each robbery and wore different clothing to avoid detection. After one attempt to rob a bank failed, he quickly traveled to his next target—hitting five banks on a single day in the span of about two hours.
On the morning of May 23, 2022, after unsuccessful attempts to rob two other banks, Brown-Murphy entered a Truist bank in Temple Hills, Maryland at 11:08 a.m. He approached a teller and passed her a note, stating “Give me the money or I will kill you.” The teller did not give him any money and Brown-Murphy left.
About 12:04 p.m. on May 23, 2022—shortly after another failed attempt elsewhere—Brown-Murphy entered a branch of Capital One bank on Alabama Avenue, SE. Brown-Murphy walked up to a teller and passed her a note, which stated “Give Me The Money Don’t Get Killed !!” The teller told police that she then saw Brown-Murphy nod and lift up his shirt as though he had a gun. Fearing for her life, the teller gave him cash from her register.
Two days later, on May 25, 2022, at 11:04 a.m., Brown-Murphy entered a Wells Fargo bank in District Heights, Maryland. He passed a teller a note, which stated “GIVE ME THE MONEY!!! DON’T GET KILLED!!!.” A fellow bank employee saw the note and pressed an alarm. Brown-Murphy fled without receiving anything.
As he left the Wells Fargo, a witness saw Brown-Murphy get into a black Cadillac and alerted the Prince George’s County Police officers then arriving on scene. Police attempted a traffic stop, but Brown-Murphy led them on a chase to nearby Suitland, Maryland. Brown-Murphy bailed out from his vehicle. When police arrested him after a foot pursuit, Brown-Murphy was wearing the black hat and glasses he had worn during the robberies, and police found in his car other clothing that he had worn as well.
Brown-Murphy was arrested on federal charges on August 29, 2022, and has been held in custody since. He has two previous convictions for bank robbery and robbery.
This case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Violent Crimes Task Force with valuable assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, the Metropolitan Police Department, and the Prince George’s County Police Department. It was indicted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith Mayer-Dempsey.
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