BOSTON — A Connecticut man has pleaded guilty in federal court to his involvement in a Martha’s Vineyard bank robbery. Romane Andre Clayton, 22, of New Haven, Conn., admitted to one count of aiding and abetting bank robbery, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young has scheduled sentencing for Dec. 18, 2024.
Clayton, along with co-conspirators Omar Johnson, Tevin Porter, and Miquel Jones, planned and executed the robbery of the Rockland Trust Bank in Tisbury on Nov. 17, 2022. The group used dark-colored clothing and plastic masks resembling an elderly man, which Jones had provided, to conceal their identities during the heist.
According to court documents, Clayton served as the lookout for the robbery. He drove the group’s getaway car to a nearby forest and then returned to the bank on a bicycle, using a walkie-talkie to communicate with the others as they carried out the robbery.
Porter, Johnson, and Jones forced their way into the bank as employees arrived to open it for the day. Armed with two semi-automatic handguns, they bound the employees with duct tape and zip ties, threatened them, and forced one employee to open the vault, from which they stole approximately $39,100. The group fled the scene in an employee’s car, picked up Clayton, and abandoned the vehicle in the Manuel Correllus State Forest before escaping in another car Clayton had left for them.
The conspirators later disposed of the evidence at a local farm where Jones worked, burying the firearms used in the robbery and burning other equipment, including the masks. The stolen cash was hidden in Jones’s home.
Porter, Johnson, and Jones have all pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Clayton faces up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine for his role in the robbery. Sentencing will be determined based on federal guidelines and other statutory factors.