Baltimore, Maryland – Kevin Maurice Lawson, age 55, of Baltimore Maryland, pleaded guilty today to committing three armed bank robberies, all while he was in a residential re-entry program serving the remainder of his federal sentence for a 2004 conviction for bank robbery.
The guilty plea was announced by Erek L. Barron, United States Attorney for the District of Maryland; Acting Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Baltimore Field Office; and Commissioner Richard Worley of the Baltimore Police Department (“BPD”).
According to his guilty plea, Lawson committed three armed bank robberies in Baltimore between June 6 and July 18, 2022, utilizing a black air gun in each robbery. In the first robbery on June 6, 2022, Lawson robbed a bank in the 100 block of East Baltimore Street in Baltimore. As he did in each of the robberies, Lawson entered the bank wearing a surgical mask and gloves. He approached a bank employee seated at a desk on the banking floor, displayed what appeared to be a dark semiautomatic handgun in his waistband, and ordered the employee to the teller line. Lawson held the employee against the teller glass and demanded money from the victim teller, who passed cash to Lawson. Lawson placed the money in a brown paper bag contained within a white plastic bag, and fled the bank on foot.
As detailed in his plea agreement, on June 27, 2022, Lawson robbed a bank in the 5400 block of Harford Road in Baltimore. Lawson approached two bank employees seated at desks on the banking floor, displayed the handgun in his waistband, and ordered the employees to the teller line. Lawson ordered the first bank employee to demand cash from the victim teller who then passed cash to the first employee. Lawson placed the money in a brown paper bag contained within a white plastic bag and ordered the first bank employee to unlock a side door leading to Hamilton Avenue. Lawson fled on foot eastbound on Hamilton Avenue.
In the third instance, on July 18, 2022, Lawson robbed a bank in the 3200 block of West North Avenue in Baltimore. Lawson rushed a security guard, and repeatedly struck her on her head and other parts of her body with his weapon as he ordered bank employees to provide him with cash. Throughout the course of the assault of the security guard, Lawson attempted to disarm her. Bank employees behind the teller line, fearing for the safety of the security guard and their own safety, passed cash through the teller line barrier glass and called to Lawson. Lawson disengaged from the guard and went to the counter to get the money. The guard recovered from the ground and fired rounds from her duty weapon at Lawson before the weapon jammed and Lawson fled the scene in a gray Kia. BPD patrol units located the vehicle and attempted to initiate a stop, but Lawson got away. Officers briefly lost view of the vehicle before locating it crashed into the exterior wall of a vacant rowhome.
A search of the Kia recovered clothing and gloves identical to that worn in the bank robberies, as well as documents linked to Lawson including a Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate identification card. Lawson was arrested on July 22, 2022. Further investigation revealed that in 2003, Lawson had robbed the banks on West North Avenue and Harford Road.
Lawson faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in federal prison for bank robbery. U.S. District Judge Brendan A. Hurson has scheduled sentencing for March 5, 2024, at 10:30 a.m.
U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI and BPD for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron also thanked Assistant United States Attorney Michael Aubin, who is prosecuting the case.
For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.
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