Clarence Antonio Lynch, a 22-year-old from Prince George’s County, Maryland, has entered a guilty plea to charges of Interference with Interstate Commerce by Robbery and Use of a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence. This announcement was made by Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, alongside Special Agent in Charge William J. DelBagno of the FBI Baltimore Field Office and Chief Malik Aziz of the Prince George’s County Police Department.
The guilty plea reveals that on August 4, 2023, Lynch drove a dark-colored SUV to a convenience store in Laurel, Maryland, intending to commit robbery while armed with at least one firearm. Inside the store, Lynch restrained an employee (Victim-1) by pulling him into an office and breaking his necklace. He then used a hydraulic tool to open the store's ATM forcibly and stole $65,780 in cash from it. Additionally, Lynch took $6,940 in cash from the office and $11,852 worth of cigarettes using a firearm. The stolen cash belonged to both Business-1 and a financial institution.
Lynch faces a minimum sentence of five years and could be sentenced up to life in federal prison followed by up to five years of supervised release. Sentences for federal crimes are generally less than maximum penalties as they are determined by a federal district court judge who considers U.S. Sentencing Guidelines among other factors. Sentencing is scheduled before U.S. District Judge Lydia K. Griggsby on September 2, 2025.
U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the investigative efforts of the FBI and PGPD and expressed gratitude towards Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua Rosenthal and William Moomau for prosecuting the case.
For further information regarding the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office or to report fraud, resources can be found at www.justice.gov/usao-md.
