Jury Convicts Two Cousins of Armed Bank Robbery

RICHMOND, Va. – A federal jury convicted two cousins today on charges of aiding and abetting armed bank robbery and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, in addition to convicting one cousin of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, John Campbell, 45 of Richmond, and Alhakka Campbell, 45, of Knightdale, North Carolina, stormed into a Wells Fargo Bank in Henrico shortly after the bank opened on Nov. 17, 2017. While John Campbell threatened employees with a firearm, Alhakka Campbell vaulted the teller counter, removing approximately $5,197 in cash from teller drawers and putting it in a black bag. The cousins then fled the bank in a stolen pickup truck that they later abandoned. When Alhakka Campbell removed the cash, he unknowingly grabbed two GPS tracking devices, which broadcast the location of the stolen currency to law enforcement. Law enforcement immediately responded to the location of the GPS trackers, leading to the arrest of both men, and the recovery of the firearm used by John Campbell during the robbery. 

The Campbell are scheduled for sentencing on April 18. Each face a statutory maximum of 25 years for the bank robbery conviction, plus a mandatory consecutive sentence of at least 5 years for using or carrying a firearm in relation to the bank robbery. John Campbell will also be sentenced for possessing a firearm after being convicted of a felony offense, which carries a statutory maximum of 10 years. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

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 MaryJo Thomas, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Field Office, made the announcement after Senior U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson accepted the verdict. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Gill and Gabrielle Michalak are prosecuting 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 is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:18-cr-124.