Three brothers have been sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a series of armed robberies in the Washington, D.C., area, two of which occurred in Fairfax County.
The final of the three, 41-year-old Andre Joel White Jr., was sentenced last Thursday (Aug. 7), bringing the years-long scam to a close, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
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Between September 2023 and February 2024, the trio committed armed robberies at seven establishments in Virginia and Maryland, according to an FBI document.
According to court filings, the two Fairfax County robberies took place at tobacco shops: one in Bailey’s Crossroads in December 2023 and another in Hybla Valley the next month.
On December 4, 2023, White and his brothers Aaron White and Abdullah Michelle entered a Tobacco Mart shortly before 11 p.m. and robbed an employee at gunpoint. The victim was counting money in the register before it closed when the three came in and demanded cash.
One of the thieves, armed with a revolver, stole about $700 from the register before demanding that the employee open the store’s safe. The employee was unable to do so because he did not have access, according to court filings.
The other two suspects stole around 150 boxes of Newport cigarettes, valued at $12,500, as well as the employee’s cell phone, before all three departed the property.
On Jan. 28, 2024, at about 8:45 p.m., two of the brothers entered a Tobacco Bazaar in Hybla Valley and took $220 from the store’s cash register, as well as a safe containing around $3,000, armed with a revolver and “a small baseball bat or baton-style object.”
The suspects in the Hybla Valley theft also stole at least 25 boxes of Newport cigarettes, which were likely worth at least $2,000.
Following their arrests, each of the brothers pleaded guilty to a variety of offenses, including flashing a handgun during a violent crime and conspiring to interfere with commerce through robbery.
According to court documents, none of the three were specifically charged with the armed robbery of a vehicle in Washington, D.C., which was later utilized in the Bailey’s Crossroads heist.
Michelle received the harshest punishment, being sentenced to 21 years in federal prison on July 2. Aaron White was sentenced to 14 years on June 18.
Andre White Jr., who pleaded guilty on December 18, 2024, was sentenced this week to 10 and a half years in prison.
