BOSTON — A fourth man is now facing charges related to an armed robbery of a Martha’s Vineyard bank during which employees were bound by duct tape and plastic restraints in November, federal law enforcement officials said Thursday.
Tevin Porter, 27 of Bridgeport, Conn., was arrested by FBI agents and appeared Wednesday in federal court in Connecticut, Joseph Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division said in a statement. Porter was detained pending a 11:30 a.m. hearing on Friday.
Last month, three men -- Miquel Antonio Jones, 39, of Edgartown, Omar Odion Johnson, 32 of Canterbury, N.H. and Romane Andre Clayton, 21, of Jamaica -- were indicted by a Boston federal grand jury in connection with the armed robbery of the Rockland Trust Bank in Tisbury, Mass. on Nov. 17, 2022.
The men are accused of holding a gun to an employee’s head and binding workers with duct tape as they made their getaway.
Additional charges have also been filed in the case, U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins said Thursday.
Jones and Porter were charged in a superseding indictment with one count each of conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery, and one count of armed bank robbery and aiding and abetting.
Clayton was also charged in the superseding indictment with one count of bank robbery and aiding and abetting.
Jones and Clayton will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.
Jones and Clayton were initially arrested and charged by criminal complaint in December 2022. Jones and Clayton were subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury along with alleged co-conspirator Omar Johnson on March 16, 2023.
“Today, the FBI arrested the fourth member of a crew that is accused of committing a violent armed bank robbery on Martha’s Vineyard, which terrorized innocent bank tellers and bystanders just trying to go about their daily lives. It’s incredibly fortunate no one was hurt,” said Bonavolonta said Thursday. “Bank robbery is not an easy payday, it is a federal crime, and FBI Boston’s Violent Crimes Task Force and our law enforcement partners will do everything in our power to ensure perpetrators are brought to justice, like we did in this case.”
According to the charging documents, on the morning of Nov. 17, 2022, Porter, Jones and Johnson forced their way through the rear door of the Rockland Trust Bank in Tisbury. All three suspects were wearing dark colored clothing and white masks resembling an elderly man with exaggerated facial features. The men were allegedly armed with at least two semi-automatic handguns.
Once inside the bank, one of the suspects allegedly held a gun to the head of one of the bank employees and forced him to open the bank’s vault. The suspects allegedly entered the vault and took approximately $39,100, then bound the employees with duct tape and plastic zip ties, demanded access to one of their vehicles, and left the bank in an employee’s car, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The charging documents allege that Jones, Porter and Johnson then drove to the Manuel Correllus State Forest, where they abandoned the employee’s car in a parking lot and left in another vehicle. Prosecutors allege Porter and Clayton then left Martha’s Vineyard together on a ferry later that morning.
Meanwhile, Johnson and Jones allegedly drove to a local farm with the equipment that had been used during the bank robbery. Later, at the farm, two firearms used in the robbery were found buried in a hole in the ground and the rest of the robbery equipment, including the plastic masks, were found burned, prosecutors said.
Jones is accused of returning home where and hiding the stolen bank money, approximately $39,100, in his bedroom under a bureau, prosecutors said. Johnson allegedly left Martha’s Vineyard, reconvened with Porter and Clayton in Woods Hole, Mass. and then drove together to the area of Johnson’s home in New Hampshire.
On Dec. 9, Clayton was arrested in Connecticut and charged with one count of being an accessory after the fact to armed bank robbery.
On Nov. 25, a criminal complaint and warrant were issued by the Edgartown District Court charging Johnson with masked and armed robbery of the Rockland Trust bank. Johnson was located and arrested in New Haven, Conn., and was taken into state custody.
On Nov. 19, Jones was arrested on state charges of accessory after the fact and was later charged with armed and masked bank robbery in Edgartown District Court.
“These defendants terrorized and spread panic across the communities of Martha’s Vineyard, and we have now charged a fourth person involved,” Rollins said. “We believe these men worked together in an armed bank robbery that involved at least two deadly semi-automatic firearms – one of which was held to an employee’s head – and went to great lengths in attempt to conceal their involvement. Massachusetts residents deserve to live and work without fear. We will hold violent individuals accountable, particularly when they use firearms during their crimes.”
The charge of armed bank robbery provides for a sentence of up to 25 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of bank robbery provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.
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