United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Mikal Portalatin, 35, of Reading, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 216 months in prison and five years of supervised release by United States District Judge John M. Gallagher for committing three commercial armed robberies. Judge Gallagher also ordered Portalatin to pay $87,700 in restitution and $2,900 in fines and assessments.
The defendant was charged by indictment in January 2024 and pleaded guilty in July of this year to one count of Hobbs Act robbery, one count of attempted Hobbs Act robbery, one count of using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, and one count of armed bank robbery, charges arising from three armed robberies he committed in Berks County in the second half of 2022:
- July 27, 2022; Citgo gas station convenience store, 200 block of Buttonwood Street.
- August 3, 2022; Sunoco gas station convenience store, 1500 block of Lancaster Avenue.
- November 21, 2022; Members First Credit Union, 500 block of E. Lancaster Avenue
During the July robbery, Portalatin discharged his firearm at an employee who chased him as he fled; no one was hit.
This case was investigated by FBI Philadelphia’s Allentown Resident Agency, the Cumru Township Police Department, and the Reading Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Rosalynda M. Michetti and Kelly Lewis Fallenstein.
