Florida man convicted of robbing banks while living at halfway house

FLORIDA — A jury has convicted a federal prisoner of the robbery of three banks and the attempted robbery of a fourth bank while he was residing at a halfway house in Orlando, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida (USAO) has announced.

According to United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg, a federal jury has found LaTavis Deyonta Mackroy, 29, guilty of three counts of bank robbery and one count of attempted bank robbery. He faces a maximum penalty of 80 years in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 25, 2023, before U.S. District Court Judge Paul G. Byron.

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, Mackroy was a federal prisoner residing at a halfway house in Orlando and was scheduled to be released soon. After staying at the halfway house for over a month, Mackroy was given a home pass which allowed him to spend the weekend with his family.

The following day, Saturday, April 16, 2022, Mackroy allegedly robbed the Fairwinds Credit Union in Winter Park by passing a demand note and threatening the teller. The USAO said Mackroy left the credit union with $3,231 and returned to the halfway house the following day.

The next weekend, Mackroy was again given a home pass, and he reportedly robbed one bank on Friday, one bank on Saturday, and attempted to rob another bank on Saturday, which was not successful, the USAO said.

In the robbery on Friday, April 22, 2022, Mackroy reportedly took $4,000 from a teller at Chase Bank in Kissimmee after passing her a threatening demand note.

On Saturday, April 23, 2022, he robbed the TD Bank in Winter Park and took $2,820, the USAO said.

In an alleged attempted robbery of a Regions Bank in Orange City, Mackroy was said to be surprised when the teller walked away from his station after reading the demand note, which caused Mackroy to flee the bank empty-handed. The next day, Mackroy returned to the halfway house.

Although he reportedly wore a face mask and sunglasses to conceal his identity in all four robberies, the USAO said Mackroy forgot to retrieve the demand note after the final attempted robbery. That note was processed for fingerprints and contained four fingerprints matching the defendant’s known prints, which were on file with the FB, the USAO said.

After learning that Mackroy had been released on a pass during the robberies, law enforcement conducted an investigation that reportedly confirmed that Mackroy was the disguised robber at all four banks.

The FBI collected Mackroy’s cell phone, which later revealed his phone’s location at the banks at the time they were robbed, the FBI stated.

The FBI said it also recovered clothing from the halfway house that matched clothing worn by Mackroy during the robberies.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Winter Park Police Department, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, the Orange City Police Department, and the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dana E. Hill and Michael P. Felicetta.