PORTSMOUTH, Va. – A 26-year-old Portsmouth man was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his involvement in six armed robberies.
Rashad Harris helped rob multiple banks and financial institutions including three different Title Max stores, an Advance American Cash Advance and a Wells Fargo in Portsmouth. Harris also robbed a BB&T in Chesapeake.
Federal authorities say that during these robberies Harris and a co-conspirator would enter these banks and financial institutions pretending to be interested in obtaining a loan. They would then suddenly brandish firearms and demand money.
Authorities finally caught Harris because of a note that Harris handed to a teller during a Wells Fargo robbery. The note that Harris had handed the teller was actually a starter check with his name on it.
After the robbery, personnel at the bank looked up Harris on Facebook and recognized him as the man who had robbed them.
In addition to his prison sentence, Harris was also ordered to pay $12,428 in restitution which was the total amount taken during all the armed robberies, say officials.
