Md. man gets 18 years for kidnapping woman and her kids, robbing bank she worked at of $169k

Md. man kidnapped woman, robbed bank she worked at

GREENBELT, Md. — A federal judge has sentenced a man prosecutors say kidnapped a Maryland bank manager and her two children, then held one of the kids hostage while she withdrew thousands of dollars.

Thirty-eight-year-old William Cordell Johnson was sentenced Monday to 18 years in prison after being convicted of bank robbery and weapons charges.

Prosecutors said Johnson wore camouflage and a ski mask when he held the woman and her children at gunpoint Sept. 24. They said he forced them from their home to the bank in California, Md., to withdraw $169,900.

Prosecutors say Johnson held one of the children hostage while she got the money.

Johnson and 35-year-old Joseph Franklin Brown were arrested in Raleigh, N.C.

Brown pleaded guilty to bank robbery and weapons charges.