Source: United States Department of Justice News
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A federal jury convicted an Alexandria man yesterday on charges stemming from a string of armed gas station and convenience store robberies in the Herndon area of Fairfax County.
According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Rashawn Perkins, 28, wore a ski mask and brandished a firearm while committing four robberies in five weeks. The evidence established that Perkins robbed a 7-Eleven on December 30, 2021 and a Sunoco on January 19, 2022. The evidence further proved that on February 5, 2022, Perkins returned to both locations and robbed them at gunpoint again. Body-worn camera footage showed that when detectives with the Fairfax County Police Department’s Major Crimes Bureau executed a search warrant at Perkins’ residence, Perkins – who had previously been convicted of three felony offenses – threw a firearm out of his bedroom window. Evidence at the trial established that this was the same firearm Perkins used to commit several of the robberies.
Perkins faces a mandatory minimum of 28 years in prison and a maximum of life imprisonment when sentenced on January 12, 2023. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal Division; and Kevin Davis, Fairfax County Chief of Police, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff accepted the verdict.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys John C. Blanchard and Nicholas J. Patterson are prosecuting the case.
This matter was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Safe Streets Violent Crime Task Force, which is composed of Special Agents and detectives from law enforcement agencies within Northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. The task force concentrates on investigating violent crimes and criminal threats within the Capital Region.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:22-cr-114.