Beltsville Man Pleads Guilty to Potomac Bank Robberies

Samuel Lewis, age 44, of Beltsville, MD, last week pleaded guilty to twice robbing the SunTrust Bank on Falls Road in Potomac.

Lewis entered the SunTrust Bank branch, located at 9812 Falls Rd. in Potomac, on Jan. 7, 2011 and demanded money while threatening to shoot a bank employee. Lewis took $5,020 from the bank. On July 21, 2011, Lewis again entered the SunTrust Bank and took $3,564, after threatening to shoot an employee.

Lewis also pleaded guilty to robbing banks on five other occasions in Silver Spring and Gaithersburg. According to his plea agreement, Lewis walked into a bank on seven occasions from Oct. 14, 2010 to Sept. 2, 2011 and pointed a handgun at a bank teller, demanding money. Lewis struck the bank teller in the face during his first robbery, and threatened to shoot the bank tellers in the remaining six robberies, stealing a total of $108,706 from the banks.
 
On Sept. 16, 2011, Montgomery County Police detectives executed a search warrant for a room that Lewis was renting, and seized $58,270 and a .44 caliber revolver. Lewis had previously been convicted of a felony and was prohibited from possessing a gun.
 
Lewis faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the bank robbery; 10 years in prison for being a felon in possession of a gun; and a mandatory minimum of seven years consecutive to any sentence for using a gun during a bank robbery. At maximum he could receive a sentence of life in prison for using a gun during a bank robbery. His sentencing is scheduled for May 21, 2012, at 11 a.m.