DC Felon Pleads Guilty to Five Armed Restaurant Robberies

David Andrew Williams, 32, pleaded guilty on May 4, 2026, in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to charges connected to armed robberies of five restaurants in Southeast and Northwest Washington, per a U.S. Department of Justice press release.

The robberies targeted five establishments across two quadrants of the city, affecting business owners and employees in those locations. Williams, a District of Columbia resident with a prior felony conviction, carried out the holdups, which involved the use of a firearm, according to the Justice Department document.

Prior to the plea, Williams faced charges for these offenses as a previously convicted felon prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law. The guilty plea shifts the case from trial proceedings to sentencing, with a hearing scheduled in the coming months per standard federal court timelines.

This resolution triggers mandatory sentencing guidelines under federal statutes for armed robbery and felon-in-possession offenses, requiring the court to impose penalties that could include prison terms of up to 15 years per count. Prosecutors must now submit sentencing recommendations, and the U.S. Probation Office will prepare a presentence investigation report to inform the judge's decision.

The plea also enables restitution orders for the affected restaurants, directing compensation for financial losses from the robberies.

Williams's prior conviction stems from earlier federal charges, marking this as his second encounter with the justice system in the District of Columbia, per the Justice Department release. Federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia have pursued similar armed robbery cases in the region, with this plea aligning with ongoing efforts to address violent crime in urban areas.