U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves | U.S. Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves | U.S. Department of Justice
Franco Rawlings Jr. pleaded guilty today to robbing several Hispanic construction workers at gunpoint in the Trinidad neighborhood throughout 2023, U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves announced.
Rawlings pleaded guilty in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to two counts of armed robbery, one count of robbery, and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm.
Sentencing is scheduled for December 4, 2024, before the Honorable Errol Arthur. As part of his sentence, Rawlings faces mandatory minimum sentences of five years in prison for each armed robbery offense and one year in prison for the unlawful possession of a firearm offense.
According to the March 6, 2024 indictment, from May to June 2023, Rawlings conspired with a co-conspirator to identify residential construction sites within the Trinidad neighborhood in Northeast Washington, D.C., staffed by Hispanic workers and to rob those workers using firearms. The indictment also charged Rawlings with a solo armed robbery that he allegedly committed in April 2023.
According to the government’s evidence, with which Rawlings agreed, on April 18, 2023, a victim was working as a welder on a home located in the 1400 block of Montello Avenue Northeast when Rawlings approached him in an alleyway. Rawlings pointed a gun at the victim and told him not to move. He then searched the victim and took his wallet containing $700 in cash. On May 30, 2023, two victims were working to install a deck at another home on Montello Avenue Northeast when Rawlings and his co-conspirator approached them through an open gate. They pointed firearms at the victims and forced them into the basement where they were robbed. On June 27, 2023, three victims were remodeling a home on Owen Place Northeast when Rawlings and his co-conspirator entered through the rear entrance. They pointed firearms at the victims and robbed them before fleeing.
On June 28, 2023 police searched Rawlings' residence in Trinidad where they found him in possession of a loaded Glock 19 handgun despite being previously convicted of a felony that prohibited him from possessing firearms.
The defendant was arrested on June 28, 2023 and has been in custody since then.
This case is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
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