R’Vonte Berryman, 28, and Cregarius Jackson, 37, both from Houston, Texas, have been sentenced to federal prison for their involvement in two violent ATM robberies in Indianapolis. Berryman received a seven-year sentence while Jackson was sentenced to five and a half years. Both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit interference with commerce by robbery, bank robbery, and aiding and abetting. The court also ordered them to pay $407,339 in restitution.
Court documents show that Berryman and Jackson traveled from Houston to Indianapolis in 2022 to participate in the robberies. On June 9, 2022, at about 3:41 a.m., Jackson jammed an ATM at a PNC Bank on West 38th Street. This caused the machine to malfunction and required a technician’s response. When the technician arrived, Berryman and another accomplice forced him to open the machine and hand over $107,339.
On August 9, 2022, they used the same method at a Bank of America ATM on River Road in Indianapolis. After disabling the machine and waiting for a technician to arrive, they forced the employee to surrender $300,000.
“These defendants traveled hundreds of miles across the country to prey on financial services that everyday Hoosiers rely on,” said Tom Wheeler, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. “These violent schemes drive up costs, disrupt access to financial services, and put innocent people in danger. This sentence makes clear that exploiting our banking system and endangering the people who keep it running will carry serious consequences.”
“These men chose to use fear and force to steal. By coercing employees to open ATMs, they put innocent workers in fear for their safety and traumatized them,” said FBI Indianapolis Special Agent in Charge Timothy J. O’ Malley. “The FBI will continue working with our law enforcement partners to identify, investigate, and hold accountable those who threaten public safety.”
The case was investigated by the FBI. U.S. District Court Judge Sarah Evans Barker imposed the sentences.
U.S. Attorney Wheeler thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Jayson W. McGrath for prosecuting this case.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which brings together law enforcement agencies at all levels with communities aiming to reduce violent crime and gun violence.
