In a series of events that shook the East Bay and the wider Bay Area, defendants Dontae Jerome Jones Jr., 20, and JoMya Mauriyne Futch, 21, entered guilty pleas to bank robbery charges, with Futch adding a perjury charge to her rap sheet, according to a news release from Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith. The criminal activities that landed them in court spanned from June 2023 to September 2024, involving a spree of bank heists across multiple cities in Northern California.
Jones and co-defendant Yasmin Charisse Millett, who pleaded guilty earlier on March 13, orchestrated the series, recruiting primarily women to carry out the daring daylight robberies, as stated in court documents obtained by the U.S. Attorney's Office, the conspiracy saw these individuals delivering ominous threats via notes to unsuspecting bank employees and fleeing with pilfered funds to a waiting getaway car, with roles clearly defined within this criminal ensemble. Millett even took to Instagram to flaunt the ill-gotten gains, further boasting the operation's success and inviting others to join in.
A particularly detailed incident on July 17, 2023, found Futch, under the guide of Jones and Millett, entering a Suisun City credit union, where she presented a threatening note to a teller and subsequently fled with cash—only to divide the spoils among the trio at the escape vehicle, a stolen white Audi A7. The law enforcement's intercession came swiftly the next day, during a routine traffic stop where officers discovered "bait money" and the remnants of a demand note that chillingly read, “Don't Make eye contact Don't look suspicious Don't Push emergency Button Put smile on your face or I will shoot,” among the belongings of the accused, as described in the court records, as per U.S. Attorney's Office.
Further complicating her case, Futch was caught in a web of lies spun during a grand jury testimony on August 15, 2024, where she claimed ignorance of the true nature of the outing on July 17, purporting she had thought it was to help Millett open a bank account, not commit a robbery, yet these statements contradicted the evidence presented to the court showing her prior knowledge and agreement to the criminal plan. The FBI, with assistance from local law enforcement agencies and the California Highway Patrol, unraveled this criminal thread, leading to the charges and subsequent guilty pleas of Jones and Futch.
Sentencing for the convicts is earmarked for August 7, 2025, where the bank robbery convictions could yield up to 20 years in federal prison and fines reaching $250,000, with Futch's perjury charge carrying its own weight of a maximum five-year sentence and a fine equal in value, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The final judgment rests with Chief U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley, who will take into account statutory factors and Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which consider a multitude of variables.
