Rockville Man Gets 20 Years for Role in Damascus Bank Robbery

A Rockville man was sentenced on Thursday to more than 20 years in prison for his role in a 2010 bank robbery in Damascus, U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein announced in a news release.

Vaughan Barksdale, 47, to driving the getaway vehicle in the June 29, 2010 robbery of the M&T Bank on Main Street in Damascus.

U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus sentenced Barksdale to 250 months in prison, followed by five years probation.

Arnell Johnson, 29, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced to 334 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release.

Titus also ordered Johnson and Barksdale to forfeit $13,560, the amount stolen from the bank, and the firearms used in the robbery.

Titus considered the defendants' records as "career offenders" with prior drug and/or violent crime convictions in considering the sentence, the release said.

According to their plea agreements, on June 29, 2010, Lamar Pannell, carrying a silver Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolver, and Johnson, carrying an M9 rifle, entered the Damascus bank. Pannell wore a tan or white baseball cap and sunglasses and Johnson wore a wig with shoulder-length braids, dark glasses and a floppy blue hat.

Pannell placed the revolver, still in his hand, on the counter inside the bank, pointing the barrel toward a bank teller, according to the court documents. Pannell and Johnson ordered tellers and customers to the back of the bank and demanded money.

They left the bank with $13,560 and got into a waiting vehicle driven by Barksdale, the documents said.

When a Prince George’s County Police officer stopped the vehicle for a traffic violation later in the day, Pannell and Johnson ran, the documents said. Barksdale was apprehended at the scene. Pannell was apprehended after a short pursuit. Johnson was apprehended several months later.

Pannell, 38, of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty on June 27. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 13.