A Connecticut man who had pleaded guilty to charges related to the Rockland Trust bank robbery in 2022 was sentenced in a federal court this week.
U.S. District Court Judge William Young on Tuesday passed down a 3.5-year prison sentence to Tevin Porter, who was one of four men accused of taking more than $39,000 from the Vineyard Haven bank.
Mr. Porter previously pleaded guilty to armed robbery and will be under supervised release for two years after his prison sentence. He has already served nearly two years of his sentence since being held during the court proceedings.
Mr. Porter, according to law enforcement officials, entered the bank on Nov. 17, 2022 with Miquel Jones and Omar Johnson, holding a gun and wearing a mask that made him look like an old man mask.
The gunmen forced the Rockland Trust manager and another employee to open the bank’s vault to take out the cash, before binding the employees hands and taking off in one of the staff member’s vehicles.
Mr. Porter was arrested several months later in Connecticut and came to a plea agreement with prosecutors in July 2023.
He, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Jones and Romane Clayton, the alleged lookout man in the case, have all pleaded guilty. Mr. Jones and Mr. Clayton have already been sentenced.
In a sentencing memorandum filed with the court this month, the U.S. Attorney’s Office asked that Mr. Porter serve one month longer than what the judge imposed.
“Porter served as hired muscle,” the prosecution wrote. “He carried and displayed one of the loaded guns himself, having brought it with him from Connecticut for this purpose…This brazen and extremely dangerous conduct is inexcusable and Porter’s involvement therein warrants a serious sentence.”
Mr. Porter had no prior criminal history and his attorney claimed that he was in financial distress, which led him to be vulnerable “to entreaties of those who sought to have him join their criminal plan,” according to court documents.
Mr. Porter came to the U.S. from Jamaica, and would be deported after his sentence, according to his lawyer. Mr. Porter had a stint as a recording artist and producer, according to court documents.
Friends and family wrote letters to the court, asking for leniency. Friend Jessica Joseph felt Mr. Porter could help lift up others in the future, if given the chance.
“I firmly believe in second chances, and I have no doubt that, if given this opportunity, Tevin will rise above this moment and make meaningful contributions to the community,” she wrote.
Mr. Johnson, the last remaining defendant, is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 10.
