The boyfriend of the accused "cell phone bandit" pleaded guilty Thursday to charges that could land him in prison for the rest of his life.
Dave C. Williams, 19, of Fairfax, was in U.S. District Court where he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.
According to federal prosecutors, Williams admitted conspiring with Candice R. Martinez, also 19, to rob four northern Virginia branches of Wachovia Bank. Williams told authorities that he and Martinez used his computer to write a note threatening to shoot the teller or someone nearby if the cash was not handed over.
Investigators say Martinez is the woman seen in an infamous surveillance video chatting on a cell phone while robbing a bank.
In each case, they say Williams was on the other end of the calls, waiting outside the bank to drive the getaway car.
The couple allegedly robbed banks in Vienna, Springfield, Ashburn and Manassas between Oct. 12 and Nov. 4, with Wachovia being targeted because Williams once worked at the Vienna branch and was familiar with how the bank operated.
Federal officials said a total of $48,620 was stolen. As part of his plea, Williams agreed to waive his interest in items prosecutors said he spent the money on, including a 1997 Acura Integra, a plasma TV and designer apparel. Sentencing before Judge Gerald Bruce Lee was scheduled for Feb. 24.
Williams' plea came two days after Martinez appeared in the same courthouse where she was ordered held without bond. At that hearing, an FBI special agent testified that a black revolver had been recovered from the home of Williams' stepfather. The weapon is believed to be the gun a teller reported seeing during a Nov. 4 robbery in Ashburn.
A federal grand jury is considering charges against Martinez.
