WASHINGTON — As get rich-quick schemes goes, this was one of the riskier ones.

Just ask Tyronda Ferrell, 23, a former Brink’s armored truck driver who was sentenced Monday in federal court in Washington to 6 years and 8 months in prison for her inside role in a brazen, mid-afternoon armored car robbery last September that netted $721,309, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Authorities said that Ferrell, of Hyattsville, Md.,  planned the robbery with a friend David Reddix, 23, of Washington, who recruited his friend Richard Lee, 32.

Last Sept. 2, Brink’s dispatched a truck to pick up money from banks and businesses in Northern Virginia, authorities said. Ferrell was one of the two guards, and was the driver.

As part of the plan, after doing the normal pickups, Ferrell drove to a Wendy’s restaurant in Northeast Washington.  At 2:40 p.m., she parked the car and Reddix, who was wearing the mask and carrying a gun,  and Lee,  approached  the other guard and ordered that person to open the truck door, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

The two robbers entered the truck and ordered the guard to fill the bag with money while they told Ferrell to start driving. The second guard was forced into the rear of the truck and Lee took his gun. Ferrell drove to an alley in Northeast Washington and the two men took off.

That night, the men planned to meet Ferrell to split up the money. But Ferrell was arrested that night and Reddix and Lee were arrested within days.  Reddix and Lee are awaiting sentencing.

The FBI has a mystery on its hands: Who the heck keeps shooting at buildings overnight in Northern Virginia?

The latest came either late Monday or early Tuesday when authorities discovered that someone had shot at a U.S. Coast Guard recruiting center in Woodbridge, Va., the Washington Post reports.

Authorities are trying to determine if it’s linked to a recent series of shootings at U.S. military facilities in Northern Virginia, the Post reports.

Authorities have linked the same gun to shootings at buildings at the Pentagon, Marine Corps recruiting station in Chantilly and the Marine Corps Museum near Quantico. All have taken place since mid-October.

No one has been hurt.

The FBI believes that the shooter has a gripe against the Marine Corps.

By Allan Lengel

WASHINGTON — The latest FBI sting involving a Northern Virginia man who was allegedly plotting to blow up subway stations in Northern Virginia highlights the complex relationship the Muslim community has with the FBI.

Reporter William Wan of the Washington Post reports when news surfaced that the FBI on Wednesday had arrested Farooque Ahmed,34, a Pakistani American, “Muslim groups in the area struggled with what to say publicly.”

“As details of the arrest trickled out, many in the Muslim community avoided saying anything to outsiders, but instead quietly voiced concerns to one another about the tactics used,” the Post wrote.

To read more click here.

At a press conference Friday , John Perren, acting head of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, said he believes the person has a grievance against the Marine Corps, but not those serving in uniform.

WASHINGTON — Though it may not be nearly as perplexing as the D.C. sniper case of 2002, authorities are trying to figure out who has been shooting at buildings in Northern Virginia. All the shootings have happened overnight.

FBI's John Perren

On Thursday, the FBI confirmed that a shooting this week at a vacant Marine Corps recruiting office in Fairfax County is linked to shootings earlier this month at the Pentagon and the National Museum of the Marine Corps, the Washington Post reports. Unlike the sniper case, no one has been hurt.

The Post reported that ballistic tests of bullets found at the scene point to the same weapon.

OTHER STORIES OF INTEREST

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• Former Jailers Get Time for Obstructing FBI Investigation (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Experts Work to Remove Ammo Under NYC Bridge (AP)
• Intelligence Spending at Record $80.1 Billion (Washington Post)
• 3 More Charged in NYC Anti-Gay Attacks (AP)
• Terror Suspect Described as Quiet Suburban Father (AP)
• Feds Don’t Want 41 Venomous Snakes from Porn Case (AP)

By Allan Lengel

WASHINGTON — The FBI decided to end its sting and arrest a Northern Virginia man now charged with plotting to blow up D.C. -area subway stations because it was concerned he was about to leave the country to go on pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, according to a court document and law enforcement sources.

FBI agents arrested Farooque Ahmed, 34, of Ashburn, Va., on Wednesday on charges that he conspired with people he thought were al-Qaida operatives to blow up the Arlington National Cemetery, Pentagon City, Crystal City and Court House subway stations in Northern Virginia.

In some other cases involving stings, the FBI let the plot play out more. In Dallas, for example, FBI agents in 2009 actually provided fake explosives to Hosam Smadi, who drove a car bomb to a skyscraper downtown and tried detonating it.

In September 2009, FBI agents posing as low-level al-Qaida operatives provided Michael C. Finton — aka Talib Islam — with fake explosives in a van that he allegedly tried detonating in front of the Paul Findley Federal Building in Springfield, Ill.

In this latest case, Ahmed, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Pakistan, met with undercover FBI agents and FBI operatives over the past several months and provided video and diagrams of subway stops and conducted surveillance, authorities said. He also advised when the best time was to kill the maximum people, but never came close to carrying out the plot, investigators said.

To read more click here.

Read FBI affidavit

By Allan Lengel

The FBI said Tuesday it has opened an investigation into three mysterious shootings at buildings in Northern Virginia since Oct. 17,  including the Pentagon. No one has been injured.

The FBI said it has confirmed that shots fired at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Va., and the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., involved a single weapon.

It added that ballistics testing is underway for an overnight shooting that took place on Oct. 25 or Oct. 26 at the Marine Corps Recruiting Station in Chantilly, Va.

The incident at the National Museum of the Marine Corps took place during the early morning hours on Oct. 17, the FBI said.  A similar incident occurred at approximately 5 a.m. on Oct. 19,  at the Pentagon.

Right after the shooting at the Pentagon’s exterior walls, authorities said it appeared to be a random event.

Now, who knows?

Five  Northern Virginia men who vanished, only to appear in Pakistan, were sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of terrorism charges Thursday by a Pakistani court, the Washington Post reported.

Pakistani authorities introduced evidence including emails, which it said showed the young men planned to carry out terrorist attacks in Pakistan, the Post reported.

The attorneys for the men questioned the verdict and the legitimacy of the emails. The Post reported that the families back home were devastated by the verdicts.

To Read more click here.