Baltimore Robber Exiled to 32 Years in Prison for Possessing and Brandishing a Gun During Two Robberies

BALTIMORE, MD—U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Todd Bell, age 29, of Baltimore, today to 32 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for two counts of possessing and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence in connection with the armed robberies of two businesses.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Richard A. McFeely of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger; Baltimore County Police Chief James W. Johnson; and Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III.

According to information presented at Bell’s plea hearing, on December 22, 2008, Bell, Trevon Jones and Quindell Ford entered the Texaco Station at 2415 York Road in Timonium, Maryland. The cashier was alone in the store at the time and attempted to stop Bell from coming behind the counter. Bell drew a gun from under his jacket and struck the cashier in the head with the gun twice before the cashier fell to the ground. Bell ordered the cashier to stay down and the robbers ransacked the area behind the counter, stealing the money from the cash drawer, five cartons of cigarettes, as well as the cashier’s wallet and cellular telephone.

Bell also admitted that, on December 24, 2008, he, Jones and Ford cased the Charles Street Liquors store at 1122 South Charles Street in Baltimore, with plans to rob the store. Later that day Bell and Ford entered the liquor store with a third robber. The robbers grabbed the store owner and threatened him and a store employee with a silver semiautomatic handgun. The third robber locked the front door of the store from the inside. The robbers made the employee get on the ground at the rear of the store and took the owner behind the counter to the cash register and ordered him to open the register. The robbers then took money from the cash register and from a bag under the cash register, money from a separate drawer that the owner used to cash checks, and a loaded .38 caliber Smith and Wesson revolver from behind the counter. The robbers took cash from the store employee and cash, an engraved silver money clip, and a wallet from the owner. The robbers then made the owner get on the ground, bound his hands with duct tape, and left the store.

Quindell Ford, age 29 and Trevon Jones, age 28, both of Baltimore, pled guilty to their roles in the robberies. Jones was sentenced to 12 years in prison and Ford faces a maximum penalty of life in prison for the robberies and for brandishing a gun during a crime of violence at his sentencing on November 4, 2010.

Mr. Rosenstein thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Baltimore County Police Department, and the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office and the Baltimore City Police Department for their work in this investigation and prosecution. Mr. Rosenstein commended Assistant U.S. Attorney Bonnie S. Greenberg, who prosecuted this case.