Man Sentenced to 11 Years for 2023 Bank Robbery Conspiracy Following Jury Convictions, Probation Violations

NORFOLK, Va. — Anton Demetrius Williams Jr., 23, was sentenced to serve 11 years in prison after a jury convicted him of conspiring to rob a bank in 2023 and after Mr. Williams was found guilty of violating his probation from prior convictions also involving theft.

On Dec. 11, 2023, an unidentified woman (with whom Mr. Williams conspired) entered a credit union on Granby Street in Wards Corner and passed a teller a note reading, “You have one minute to put all the loose money in the bag or you will get shot.” The teller alerted Norfolk Police by activating a silent alarm, she put $2,000 in cash — plus a false bundle of cash containing a GPS tracking device — in a bank bag, and the woman left the bank with the bag of money. Surveillance video from the credit union showed the woman had been wearing a black wig, and the bank teller also testified at trial that the woman was wearing a wig.

Using GPS tracking, police traced the stolen cash to a gas station further north on Granby Street in Wards Corner. Officers arrived there, they saw Mr. Williams leaving a vehicle parked in the near-empty lot, and Mr. Williams ran away. Inside Mr. Williams’ vehicle was a receipt dated earlier that day for a wig from a beauty supply store. GPS tracking continued to show the cash moving with Mr. Williams. When the officers ran after and detained Mr. Williams, they found an empty bank bag on the ground nearby as well as a different bag containing the stolen cash and tracking device. Mr. Williams then physically resisted arrest and broke an officer’s wrist in the process of the officer detaining him. Surveillance footage from the site of Mr. Williams’ arrest showed him partially burying the bank bag before the officers took him into custody.

On March 11, 2025, Mr. Williams pleaded not guilty to his charges of armed robbery, conspiring to commit armed robbery, and resisting arrest, and he opted to be tried by a jury. On March 12, the jury found Mr. Williams guilty as charged.

Mr. Williams was subsequently found in violation of his probation from a December 2018 offense, for which he was convicted of robbery and using a firearm in the commission of robbery, and an October 2019 offense, for which he was convicted of receiving stolen property.

On June 27, Judge Robert B. Rigney, who presided over Mr. Williams’ trial, sentenced Mr. Williams to serve eight years in prison for the December 2023 incident and suspended another five years in prison on the condition that Mr. Williams complete three years of uniform good behavior following his release. For violating his probation from the two prior offenses, Judge Rigney revoked three years of a previously suspended sentence, bringing Mr. Williams’ total time to serve to 11 years.

“Mr. Williams robbed a bank teller at gunpoint, and we are lucky that the victim did not suffer physical harm. My thoughts are with her as she works to get past this frightening experience,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “Mr. Williams will now spend over a decade in prison for committing this violent crime and for disappointing the Court, who had offered Mr. Williams the opportunity to reform while on probation. My prosecutors and I will continue to focus our efforts on trying cases against the people who commit violent crimes in our communities.”

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Matthew G. Finley and retired Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Scott C. Vachris prosecuted Mr. Williams’ case and probation violations, and Norfolk Police Detective Patrick A. Garvey led the December 2023 investigation.

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March 19, 2025

Jury Convicts Man of Armed Robbery, Conspiring to Rob Bank Teller Using Threatening Note, Resisting Arrest

NORFOLK, Va. — A jury convicted Anton Demetrius Williams Jr., 23, on Wednesday, March 12, of robbery using a firearm, conspiring to commit robbery, and resisting arrest after he enlisted the help of a woman to commit a bank robbery in 2023 and fought with the officer who arrested him, breaking the officer’s wrist.

On Dec. 11, 2023, an unidentified woman entered a credit union on Granby Street in Wards Corner and passed a teller a note reading, “You have one minute to put all the loose money in the bag or you will get shot.” The teller alerted Norfolk Police by activating a silent alarm, she put $2,000 in cash — plus a false bundle of cash containing a GPS tracking device — in a bank bag, and the woman left the bank with the bag of money. Surveillance video from the credit union showed the woman had been wearing a black wig, and the bank teller also testified at trial that the woman was wearing a wig.

Using GPS tracking, police traced the stolen cash to a gas station further north on Granby Street in Wards Corner. Officers arrived there, they saw Mr. Williams leaving a vehicle parked in the near-empty lot, and Mr. Williams ran away. Inside Mr. Williams’ vehicle was a receipt dated earlier that day for a wig from a beauty supply store. GPS tracking continued to show the cash moving with Mr. Williams. When the officers ran after and detained Mr. Williams, they found an empty bank bag on the ground nearby as well as a different bag containing the stolen cash and tracking device. Mr. Williams then physically resisted arrest and broke an officer’s wrist in the process. Surveillance footage from the site of Mr. Williams’ arrest showed him partially burying the bank bag before the officers took him into custody.

On March 11, 2025, Mr. Williams pleaded not guilty to his charges of armed robbery, conspiring to commit armed robbery, and resisting arrest, and he opted to be tried by a jury. On March 12, the jury found Mr. Williams guilty as charged. Judge Robert B. Rigney, who presided over Mr. Williams’ trial, set his sentencing hearing on May 23.

“Once again, a combination of witness cooperation, good police work, cameras, and technology gave my prosecutors the evidence necessary to try a violent crime to a jury and to secure a conviction,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “We and the police welcome any information regarding Mr. Williams’ accomplice, and in the meantime we will seek a sentence appropriate to the offenses that Mr. Williams has committed. We remain dedicated to focusing our resources on prosecuting violent crimes in our city.”

Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Scott C. Vachris and Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Matthew G. Finley are prosecuting Mr. Williams’ case, and Norfolk Police Detective Patrick A. Garvey led the investigation.

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