Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel sentenced Abdelrahim Ayyad, a/k/a Sahid, age 50, of White Plains, Maryland, today to 174 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for an armed robbery conspiracy; two armed commercial robberies; and to using and brandishing a firearm in relation to a crime of violence. Judge Hazel also ordered Ayyad to forfeit $79,514.36.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and St. Mary’s County Sheriff Tim Cameron.
According to court documents, in June 2014, Ayyad conspired with Furman Troy, Darrell Lee and Michael Burgess, to rob commercial businesses in St. Mary’s County, Maryland. For example, on June 18, 2014, Ayyad admitted that he drove to Washington, D.C. and picked up Troy, Lee and Burgess and drove them to a jewelry store in Charlotte Hall, Maryland in order to commit a robbery. Ayyad handed Troy a bag containing a gun. Troy and Lee entered the store and Lee brandished a firearm at the owner of the store. Troy subsequently bound the victim with duct tape. The robbers then demanded the key to the jewelry counter from an employee of the store and stole jewelry worth more than $8,800, cash, a laptop computer and other items. On June 22, 2014, Ayyad and Burgess drove to a pharmacy in Mechanicsville, Maryland, with Troy and Lee following in another vehicle. Ayyad and Burgess waited in their vehicle while Troy and Lee robbed the pharmacy. During the robbery Lee again brandished a gun and Troy bound the pharmacy employee with duct tape. Troy and Lee stole cash and prescription bottles containing oxycodone, methadone, hydrocodone and endocet, subsequently valued at $64,325.
Furman Troy, age 45, and Darrell Lee, age 48, both of Charlotte Hall, Maryland, and Michael Burgess, age 54, of Alexandria, Virginia, previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the robberies. Lee and Troy were sentenced to 184 months and10 years in prison, respectively. Burgess is awaiting sentencing.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI and St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office for their work in the investigation and recognized the St. Mary’s County State’s Attorney’s Office for its assistance in the case. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Leah J. Bressack and Thomas P. Windom, who are prosecuting the case.