A Baltimore man was sentenced to 17 years in federal prison after he robbed a West Baltimore bank while disguised as a woman.
Federal prosecutors said Master Giddins, 26, also lent his car to two conspirators who robbed banks in Owings Mills and Essex before they were caught when a dye pack exploded in their car as they drove away.
Giddins robbed the M&T Bank branch on West Baltimore Street on Sept. 25, 2013. Prosecutors said he wore women's clothing and a long black wig and handed the teller a note saying he had a bomb.
He told the teller to put the money in a black-and-white polka-dot cosmetic bag, they said, and was driven from the scene by a female accomplice.
Over the next two days, prosecutors said, he lent his car to two women who robbed a 1st Mariner Bank branch in Owings Mills — also using a polka-dot bag to collect the money — and a Baltimore County Savings Bank branch in Essex.
As they fled the scene of the Essex robbery, authorities said, a dye pack exploded, and the women threw it out of the car along with the wigs they had been wearing. Police stopped the car and arrested the women.
A jury convicted Giddins after a four-day trial in October.
The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles Jr. Quarles also ordered Giddins to pay restitution of about $10,000.