By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com
WASHINGTON — As get rich-quick schemes goes, this was one of the riskier ones.
Just ask Tyronda Ferrell, 23, a former Brink’s armored truck driver who was sentenced Monday in federal court in Washington to 6 years and 8 months in prison for her inside role in a brazen, mid-afternoon armored car robbery last September that netted $721,309, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Authorities said that Ferrell, of Hyattsville, Md., planned the robbery with a friend David Reddix, 23, of Washington, who recruited his friend Richard Lee, 32.
Last Sept. 2, Brink’s dispatched a truck to pick up money from banks and businesses in Northern Virginia, authorities said. Ferrell was one of the two guards, and was the driver.
As part of the plan, after doing the normal pickups, Ferrell drove to a Wendy’s restaurant in Northeast Washington. At 2:40 p.m., she parked the car and Reddix, who was wearing the mask and carrying a gun, and Lee, approached the other guard and ordered that person to open the truck door, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
The two robbers entered the truck and ordered the guard to fill the bag with money while they told Ferrell to start driving. The second guard was forced into the rear of the truck and Lee took his gun. Ferrell drove to an alley in Northeast Washington and the two men took off.
That night, the men planned to meet Ferrell to split up the money. But Ferrell was arrested that night and Reddix and Lee were arrested within days. Reddix and Lee are awaiting sentencing.
