Feds say this 20-something trio robbed banks by recruiting female helpers on Instagram

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday announced charges against three young people who they say robbed a string of banks across Northern California last year by using Instagram to recruit women to walk into financial institutions and pass the tellers notes demanding money.

The U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of California unsealed an indictment against Dontae Jerome Jones Jr., 20, Yasmin Charisse Millett, 21, and JoMya Mauriyne Futch, 21. A grand jury indicted the trio last month but kept it under seal until their arrest.

The trio could not be reached for comment, nor could their representatives. Futch, of Richmond, is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court in Sacramento on Thursday.

According to the indictment, they conspired to commit at least 10 bank robberies in July 2023 in cities stretching from Sacramento to the east side of the San Francisco Bay, including Vallejo, Benicia, Concord and Antioch.

The indictment says Jones and Millett, both of Northern California, “actively sought and groomed recruits� to go into banks with notes demanding money. Millett posted videos of herself on Instagram holding large amounts of cash, according to the indictment. “Happy Money Makin’ Mondays,� she allegedly said in one post. “I got one spot left in a car tap in.� In another post, the indictment quotes her as saying: “I don’t need mfs that’s scared to get money around me so if it’s not even for you please don’t vote.�

Futch, the indictment states, joined the scheme after meeting Millett on Instagram.

The indictment traces the roots of the enterprise to June 2023, when Jones allegedly saved a screenshot to his phone of the results of an internet search describing what bank tellers should do when presented with a robbery note demanding money. Generally, they’re advised to hand over the cash.

On July 15, the indictment states, Millett sent an Instagram message to Futch: “Banks hittin! Let’s work.�

“Come on, boo,� Futch allegedly responded.

Two days later, according to the federal allegations, the trio hit a bank in Suisun City, a town on the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. They arrived there, the indictment states, in a stolen white Audi A7 with tinted windows.

Futch allegedly went inside the bank and passed a note to a teller that read, in part: “Put a smile on your face and PULL THE MONEY OUT OR I WILL SHOOT.�

She walked out with $1,000, the indictment states. That same day, according to the indictment, they hit a bank in Vallejo.

The next day, Millett allegedly was back on Instagram recruiting another note passer, asking whether she wanted to “do banks,� and if so, that she would need “shades� and a purse.

Less than a week later, on July 24, Jones drove Millett, an unnamed note passer and a fourth person to a bank in the city of Benicia, according to the indictment. When the note passer hesitated about going into the bank, Jones threatened her with a gun, the indictment states.

The note passer eventually complied, according to the indictment, and later exited the bank with $13,764.

The last visit described in the indictment was on July 28, when Jones, Millett and two children allegedly hit a bank in Sacramento and ended up in a high-speed chase with law enforcement, driving from Sacramento to Fairfield in a stolen silver Hyundai Elantra.

The indictment does not say how much money they took, or how the children became embroiled.

Futch is also charged with perjury. According to the indictment, she testified before a grand jury that she had no idea she was getting involved in robbing banks when she met up with Millett and instead thought she was helping her open a bank account.

FBI agents worked with police departments in Sacramento, Vacaville, Suisun City, Vallejo, Antioch, Benicia, Concord, Hayward and Fremont on the case. If convicted, each of the defendants faces decades in prison.