A 29-year-old Orlando man is facing up to 80 years in prison after he was found guilty of multiple bank robberies that he committed while staying at a halfway house.
On Friday, November 4, LaTavis Deyonta Mackroy was found guilty by a federal jury on three counts of bank robbery and one count of attempted bank robbery for crimes he committed earlier this year while living at a halfway house.
According to court records, in April, Mackroy was a federal prisoner living at a halfway house in Orlando. Court records show that Mackroy was scheduled for release soon, and after a month of residency at the halfway house, he became eligible for a home pass to spend a weekend with his family.
On Saturday, April 16, 2022, while he was using his weekend home pass, Mackroy visited a Fairwinds Credit Union in Winter Park and passed the following note to a teller, demanding money and threatening consequences.
Mackroy left that credit union with $3,231 and returned to the halfway house the following day, Sunday, April 17, 2022.
The following weekend, Mackroy was given another home pass and used it to rob or attempt to rob three additional banks. On April 22, during the first of the three incidents, Mackroy took $4,000 from a teller at a Chase bank in Kissimmee. The following day, Saturday, April 23, 2022, Mackroy visited a TD Bank in Winter Park and took $2,820.
In both incidents, Mackroy passed the same note that demanded “back up money and the top drawer money.”
During a final attempt on April 23, Mackroy visited a Regions Bank in Orange City and passed the same demand note.
After reading Mackroy’s demand note, the teller walked away from his station. Confused by the teller’s actions, Mackroy fled the bank. The next day, Mackroy returned to the halfway house.
Despite Mackroy wearing a face mask and sunglasses to conceal his identity in all four robberies, the police were able to obtain fingerprints from the demand note that Mackroy left behind during the fourth incident. Using Federal Bureau of Investigation records, local authorities were able to match the fingerprints to Mackroy.
Upon learning that Mackroy had been using a home pass during the robberies, law enforcement conducted further investigation and eventually collected Mackroy’s cellphone.
Cellphone location records showed that Mackroy was at the banks at the time they were robbed.
Additionally, the FBI recovered clothing from the halfway house that matched the clothing worn by Mackroy during the robberies.
Authorities say that Mackroy was partially identified by a distinctive floral tattoo on his neck, which one of the tellers noticed. The tattoo was caught on surveillance video during one of the robberies.
Authorities positively identified Mackroy on April 25 and he was arrested the following day.
Mackroy faces a maximum penalty of 80 years in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 25, 2023.