Plainfield Woman Sentenced to 87 Months in Prison for Her Roles as Lookout, Getaway Driver in Armed Bank Robberies

NEWARK, NJ—A Plainfield, New Jersey woman was sentenced today to 87 months in prison for playing a role in three armed robberies of banks in Somerset and Middlesex counties, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Andrea Dorsey, 54, of Plainfield, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty to an information charging her with three counts of bank robbery. Judge McNulty imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Claude Williams, 62, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, was charged on August 16, 2013, in a 17-count indictment with one count of conspiracy to commit bank robbery, seven counts of bank robbery, eight counts of using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and one count of attempted bank robbery. Those charges remain pending against Williams.
Williams would usually send an accomplice into banks shortly before robbing them. Dorsey admitted she went into banks to gather information for Williams about how many employees were working and served as the getaway driver during the armed robberies of the Financial Resources Federal Credit Union located in Somerset, New Jersey on September 26, 2011; the Somerset Savings Bank located in Somerville, New Jersey on November 21, 2011; and the Fulton Bank located in Metuchen, New Jersey on June 20, 2012.
Williams and Dorsey were arrested July 30, 2012 near a Unity Bank in Somerset. Williams was wearing a bandana, and law enforcement found a handgun and white gloves in the car.
In addition to the prison term, Judge McNulty sentenced Dorsey to four years of supervised release and ordered her to pay $59,387 in restitution.
The charges and allegations contained in the indictment against Williams are merely accusations and the defendant is considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents with the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford in Newark, with the investigation. He also thanked the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office and the Middlesex Borough, Piscataway, Clifton, Metuchen, North Plainfield, and Plainfield Police Departments for their roles in the investigation.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Osmar J. Benvenuto of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.
Defense counsel: Anthony J. Iacullo Esq., Nutley, New Jersey

Getaway Driver in Armed Robbery Spree Exiled to More Than 15 Years in Prison

BALTIMORE, MD—U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander sentenced Rico Bias, age 34, of Baltimore, Maryland, today to 185 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for a series of armed commercial robberies committed from January through June, 2012.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Baltimore City State’s Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein; Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department; and Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts.
According to Bias' plea agreement, from January 22, 2012 through June 11, 2012, Bias conspired with Hatratico Smith, Monzell Lee, and others, to commit 22 robberies of convenience stores, fast food restaurants, and other businesses. Smith brandished a gun during the robberies, and on two occasions fired the gun, with one resulting in the shooting of a customer on February 21, 2012. Bias admitted that in addition to checking out the stores prior to his co-defendants entering the businesses to commit the robberies, he obtained and drove the getaway car in each of the robberies. The defendants have been in federal custody since their arrests.
Hatratico Smith, age 48, and Monzell Lee, age 20, both of Baltimore, pleaded guilty to their roles in the robberies. Lee was sentenced to nine years in prison for the four robberies in which he participated. Smith is scheduled to be sentenced on January 14, 2014, at 10:00 a.m.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI, Baltimore Police Department, Baltimore County Police Department, and Baltimore City State’s Attorney's Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorney A. David Copperthite, who prosecuted the case.