A man who a judge called the "architect" of two armed robberies at a cleaning business in Gaithersburg, Maryland was sentenced today to 70 years in prison.
Rupert Stamps, 52, had been found guilty of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit armed robbery in two robberies at Sweeney Building Services, in August and November, 2014.
In the first robbery, the suspects got away with more than $37,000. In the second robbery, two employees were shot. One of them, a 75 year old woman, still has two bullets in her body; doctors say they are too dangerous to remove.
In that second robbery, the suspects didn't get any money -- the cleaning company had learned not to keep cash on hand.
"Two people, two senior citizens who were working regular jobs, got caught up in this armed robbery and suffered permanent injuries," said Ramon Korionoff, a spokesman for the Montgomery County State's Attorney Office.
Stamps had threatened to "get" the prosecutor, according to testimony in court.
"We asked for a very long sentence, and we believe this is one of those cases where a career criminal deserves extra time," Korionoff said.
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The son of the 75-year-old victim agreed. "He'll be in prison for the rest of his life," he said. "And that's great. One less thing to worry about. So hopefully my mom will get back on track and won't be afraid to go out, which is a good thing."
Stamps’ nephew, Michael Robb, 37, of D.C., was found guilty in the Nov. 6 robbery, Bethesda Magazine reported.
Several other people -- Hazlee Narce, 48, of D.C.; Regina Mitchell, age 60, of D.C.; and Kervon Noel, 33, of Silver Spring -- have been charged in the case as well.
