2 men sentenced for robbing Chantilly business at gunpoint

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. ( DC News Now ) — Two men were sentenced to prison for robbing a check-cashing business at gunpoint last year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) announced Tuesday.

On Nov. 18, 2023, 49-year-old Antonio Chester Lewis of Oxon Hill, Md., and 42-year-old Al Gibran Taylor, of Reston, Va., entered the Chantilly store to rob it of its cash.

Lewis, armed with a semi-automatic rifle, ordered customers to put their hands in the air, the USAO wrote in a news release . Taylor tried to open a cashier booth, which had the store’s register and safe.

When he found the booth locked, Lewis grabbed the store’s cashier by her neck and made her open the booth. Taylor then removed a large amount of cash from the store’s safe.

Lewis was arrested on March 26, when law enforcement found the rifle used during the robbery at his residence. They also found a privately made firearm with no serial number, a shotgun and ammunition. During a later search, they also found a handgun and more ammunition in his car.

He pleaded guilty to interference with commerce by robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm on June 13 and was sentenced to 15 years and eight months in prison.

Taylor pleaded guilty to use of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence on June 21. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

The USAO noted that both men had previous convictions.

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