Baltimore man pleaded guilty to robbing three banks while serving sentence for bank robbery

BALTIMORE -- A Baltimore man pleaded guilty on Wednesday to robbing three banks while serving a sentence for robbing a bank, according to the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office.

Kevin Lawson, 55, was serving out the remainder of a federal sentence for a 2004 conviction of robbing a bank in a residential re-entry program when he committed the robberies, state authorities said.

Lawson allegedly committed three armed bank robberies in Baltimore between June 6, 2022, and July 18, 2022. He used a black air gun in each robbery, according to his guilty plea.

He showed up at each robbery site wearing a surgical mask and gloves. He typically approached a bank employee seated at a desk on the banking floor and showed them what appeared to be a semiautomatic gun before ordering that person go to the teller line, state authorities said.

Lawson would then hold the bank employee against the glass and demand money from the teller. After receiving the money, Lawson on at least two occasions put the money in a brown paper bag and then put the brown bag inside a white plastic bag before running away, according to state authorities.

In his plea agreement, Lawson said he robbed a bank in the 100 block of East Baltimore Street on June 6, 2022, and a bank in the 5400 block of Harford Road on June 27, 2022, state authorities said.

The third bank was in the 3200 block of West North Avenue. On that occasion, Lawson allegedly rushed a security guard and struck her with his weapon, hitting her head and other parts of her body, according to state authorities.

He attempted to disarm the security guard, too, but tellers, fearing for her safety, used cash to lure him away from her. That's when the security guard shot at Lawson before her weapon jammed, state authorities said.

That day, Lawson fled in a gray Kia. He eventually crashed that vehicle into the exterior wall of a vacant rowhome, according to state authorities.

Investigators searched the Kia and recovered clothing along with gloves identical to those worn in the bank robberies. Additionally, they found documents linked to Lawson including a Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate identification card, state authorities said.

He faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in federal prison. Lawson is scheduled to be sentenced at 10:30 a.m. on March 5, 2024.