PHILADELPHIA – Cushmir McBride, 24, of Yeadon, PA, has pleaded guilty to charges related to a series of explosive ATM robberies in 2020, as announced by United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero. The plea was entered before United States District Court Judge Gene E.K. Pratter and includes conspiracy to maliciously damage property used in interstate commerce by means of an explosive, aiding and abetting, and five separate counts of malicious damage to property by explosives.
In a related development, Nasser McFall, 23, of Claymont, DE, was sentenced on January 11, 2024, to six and a half years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his involvement in similar offenses. McFall had previously pleaded guilty on June 29, 2022, to conspiracy, aiding and abetting, and four counts of malicious damage to property.
The charges stem from four separate incidents in Fall 2020, involving robberies of a Target and a Wawa, and attempted robberies of two other Wawas in Philadelphia and Claymont, DE, using explosive devices. McBride and McFall, along with co-defendant Kamar Thompson, 34, of Philadelphia, were indicted in April 2021. Thompson, already in federal custody for a separate case, pleaded guilty on November 3, 2021, to related charges, including possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
The indictment detailed the defendants’ role in the theft of over $400,000 from ATMs at various locations, including a Wells Fargo bank in Philadelphia. The spree of robberies coincided with a period of civil unrest following a police-involved shooting in Philadelphia.