A Connecticut man who pleaded guilty to a charge for his role in the Rockland Trust Bank Robbery in 2022 was sentenced to four years in prison this week. 

Romane Andre Clayton, 22, of New Haven, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge William Young in Boston on Wednesday, and he will be under three years of supervised release after his stint in prison. 

Mr. Clayton was one of four men indicted for the robbery of the Vineyard Haven bank in November 2022. He had pleaded guilty to a charge of aiding and abetting a bank robbery after he was indicted in the spring of 2023. 

Police say Mr. Clayton met with Omar Johnson, Tevin Porter and Miquel Jones on the Vineyard in fall 2022 to plan the heist. Mr. Jones, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his purported role as ringleader, picked the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road branch to rob, and provided the others with dark-colored clothing and plastic old man masks to wear, according to court documents. 

Mr. Clayton allegedly worked as the lookout man during the robbery, and stashed a vehicle in the state forest to use as a secondary getaway vehicle. Mr. Clayton had a walkie talkie to communicate with the three other men, who held bank staff at gunpoint and stole about $39,000. 

Mr. Jones, Mr. Porter and Mr. Johnson bound bank employees’ hands and stole a staff member’s car, according to police. They then picked up Mr. Clayton and drove to the secondary car. There the men split up, with Mr. Porter and Mr. Clayton traveling off Island.

Mr. Clayton was arrested on Dec. 9, 2022 at his aunt’s home in New Haven. He was initially arraigned in a Connecticut federal court before appearing in Massachusetts. 

Mr. Clayton’s attorney had asked that his sentence be deemed time served, and he be given three years of supervised release due to his lack of a criminal record and minor role in the robbery. 

According to a memorandum filed with the court, Mr. Clayton came to the U.S. to spend time with Mr. Johnson, who is Mr. Clayton’s older brother. Mr. Johnson then suggested that he and Mr. Clayton go to Martha’s Vineyard to stay with Mr. Jones, who is Mr. Johnson’s brother-in-law. 

When on Island, Mr. Clayton helped Mr. Jones with landscaping duties and other odds and ends, according to the memorandum.

According to his lawyer, Mr. Clayton had no intention of robbing a bank when he came to the states, but acknowledges his guilt and is remorseful. 

“He is horrified of the pain his crime caused to the bank employees on the day of the crime as well as the psychological mark left on the employees after his crime,” attorney Jeffrey Miller wrote in his filing. 

Mr. Clayton had come to a plea deal with prosecutors. As a result, the U.S. Attorney’s Office recommended the low-end of the federal sentencing guidelines for his charge. 

Mr. Porter and Mr. Johnson have also pleaded guilty to charges and are awaiting sentencing with the federal court.