The fourth and final suspect in the Rockland Trust robbery case was sentenced in federal court this week, ending the crime saga that gripped the Vineyard in 2022. 

Omar Johnson, 41, of New Hampshire, agreed in 2023 to plead guilty to charges in connection with the Vineyard Haven bank robbery. On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge William Young sentenced him to four years in prison. 

Mr. Johnson was one of four men police say were involved in the heist that spurred a manhunt on the Island and beyond. 

Mr. Johnson, Miquel Jones, Romane Clayton and Tevin Porter were all arrested in the wake of the November 2022 robbery. In the fall of that year, Mr. Jones, who is Mr. Johnson’s brother-in-law, began planning the robbery, and pressured Mr. Johnson to participate, according to a memorandum filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. 

Before the opening of the bank on Nov. 16, 2022, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Jones and Mr. Porter had driven to the bank on Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road, bringing masks and two firearms, including one that Mr. Johnson had brought with him from New Hampshire, according to court documents. 

When the bank’s three employees arrived for work and went to the bank’s back door, the men allegedly approached them and forced their way in with the handguns. 

Mr. Johnson and Mr. Porter brandished the guns and made an employee open the bank’s vault. The men took $39,100, bound the employees and stole a staff member’s car to get away. 

Mr. Johnson and Mr. Jones then allegedly went to a farm, where they burned the masks and buried the guns.

Mr. Johnson was arrested in Connecticut in the days after the robbery and was indicted by a federal grand jury. All four men took plea deals before a trial. 

Mr. Johnson’s sentence matches that of Mr. Clayton, Mr. Johnson’s younger brother who served as the lookout man, according to law enforcement. 

Mr. Jones, the ringleader of the robbery, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and Mr. Porter received 3.5 years. 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that Mr. Johnson was driven to get involved in the robbery by his desire to help his brother-in-law and provide for his family. 

“A significant sentence is necessary to signal to would-be offenders that no matter one’s familial circumstances, criminal activity is not the answer,” prosecutors Leah Foley and Meghan Cleary wrote. 

Mr. Johnson grew up in Jamaica and came to the U.S. in 2019 with his wife. Several family members and friends wrote to Judge Young about his character, as did his minister and teacher at the Barnstable County Correctional Facility, where he has been held during the court proceedings. 

During his incarceration, Mr. Johnson finished his GED, according to lead teacher Gregory Carbone. 

“Inmate Johnson vows to use this experience to become a better man and his actions have proved his words true, as Omar has taken part in and succeeded in every education program possible,” Mr. Carbone wrote to the judge. 

Mr. Johnson will get credit for the more than two years he has already spent in custody during the court proceedings against his sentence. After he is released, he will be supervised for three years.