'Choppa City' crew members convicted of conspiracy to rob Brink's armored cars at gunpoint

A federal jury deliberated for nearly a day-and-a-half before convicting defendants William Brock and Anthony Antwon McNair Jr. of conspiracy, bank robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. A third defendant, Erin Sheffey, was also convicted of being part of the conspiracy but acquitted on three remaining counts alleging he participated in one of the robberies outside a Truist Bank.

According to a fellow member of “Choppa City” who testified at trial, the initial idea for the scheme was Brock’s, who said the street crew had been missing an opportunity “right in our face every day.” In charging documents, prosecutors said a member of the conspiracy would stake out Brinks’ armored cars and banks to learn their routes and the drivers’ patterns. All three robberies occurred on the same day of the week, Wednesday, at approximately 9 a.m.

During the first robbery on Oct. 6, 2021, prosecutors said three men armed with long guns approached the driver of an armored truck parked in front of the SunTrust Bank on Good Hope Road in Southeast. They then beat the driver and stole a courier bag containing more than $100,000 before fleeing in an SUV driven by a fourth person. The SUV, which had been stolen in Silver Spring a month earlier, was found abandoned approximately half a mile away from the bank with its dashboard set on fire.

The second robbery occurred two months later, on Dec. 8, 2021. According to prosecutors, two witnesses identified Brock and McNair as the men who again assaulted a driver, this time with a handgun, and stole a second courier bag. Prosecutors say Brock pistol whipped the driver before both men fled the scene.

The driver testified at trial he thought someone had hit him with a brick. He said he had to crawl bleeding into a nearby business for help, and still suffers to this day from the facial fracture he sustained in the attack.

The third robbery also occurred along Good Hope Road in March 2022. In that incident, prosecutors said robbers struck an armored car from three different angles the moment it pulled up to a Truist Bank. One of the robbers armed with a handgun entered the truck and pointed the gun at the driver before handing multiple bags of cash to another robber outside the truck. Surveillance images from inside the truck show the driver with his hands in the air as a man in a black hoodie and black face-covering points a handgun inches away from his face. In that robbery, prosecutors said the suspects stole more than $1 million in cash in less than 45 seconds.

The convictions could potentially mean serious prison time for all three defendants. Bank robbery carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison and conviction for brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence carries a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison. Conspiracy, the only count Sheffey was convicted of, carries a maximum sentence of five years behind bars.

All of the men have additional legal troubles to worry about as well. Sheffey is currently under indictment in D.C. Superior Court on murder charges in connection with the death of 32-year-old Kiwyon Maddox during a shootout on 16th Street SE in August 2021. Brock also faces separate charges in connection to an unrelated shootout in November 2021 that resulted in an innocent bystander, Nathaniel Martin, being struck and killed. McNair faces federal drug charges in Maryland in connection with an unrelated case.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Tepfer and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Schneider.

U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth, who presided over the case, did not immediately set a sentencing date. All three men will remain in custody at the D.C. Jail while they await sentencing.