Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte today sentenced Jerail Melik Netcliff age 28, of Rockville, Maryland, to 10 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for an armed bank robbery, and for violating his supervised release from a previous federal conviction.  In that case, on March 10, 2017, Netcliff was sentenced to five years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for possession of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Special Agent in Charge Jennifer C. Boone of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Acting Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department.

According to his guilty plea on the morning of January 24, 2019, Netcliff robbed a bank in Derwood, Maryland.  Netcliff approached the victim teller, pointed a black handgun at the teller and other customers, and demanded $10,000 with no bait money.  Fearing for her safety, the teller gave Netcliff $10,000 in cash and Netcliff fled the bank on foot.

As detailed in his plea agreement, law enforcement officers responding to the scene tracked footprints behind the bank which led to the discovery of surveillance video from a residence.  The video showed the armed robber enter a white U-Haul van, with artwork on the rear driver’s side of the van.  U-Haul confirmed to law enforcement that the artwork on the van was specific to only one van in their inventory, which was rented to Netcliff on January 24, 2019 in Rockville.  Video surveillance of the U-Haul transaction revealed that Netcliff was wearing the same clothing he wore to rob the bank later that day.

Netcliff was charged and arrested at his place of employment in Bethesda, Maryland on January 25, 2019.  Search warrants were executed at Netcliff’s residence and on a backpack seized at his place of employment when he was arrested.  Law enforcement located a U-Haul rental agreement and a replica black handgun at Netcliff’s home and recovered $2,770 in cash, Netcliff’s Maryland driver’s license, and gloves consistent with those worn by the robber in the bank surveillance video.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended the FBI’s Cross Border Task Force and the Montgomery County Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Sykes and Thomas M. Sullivan, who prosecuted the case.

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