Department of Justice

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A federal grand jury here has returned a two-count indictment charging two central Ohio men with aiding and abetting bank robbery and aiding abetting the use of a firearm in a crime of violence.

Aden Abdullahi Jama, 20, of Reynoldsburg and Fazsal M. Darod, 23, of Columbus allegedly committed the crimes on July 6, robbing a Fifth Third bank in Hilliard. Columbus Police and other law enforcement officers encountered them on I-70 near downtown Columbus after the robbery. A shootout followed during which a Columbus Police officer was severely injured and a third person in the car with Darod and Jama was killed.

The U.S. Marshals’ Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team arrested Darod in the early morning hours of July 7 outside his Columbus residence. U.S. Marshals and Homeland Security Investigation agents arrested Jama at Chicago O’Hare International Airport on July 8 and are transporting him back to Ohio. Jama and Darod have been in custody since their arrests.

Aiding and abetting a bank robbery is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Aiding and abetting the use of a firearm during a crime of violence carries a potential penalty of at least five years and up to life in prison.

Kenneth L. Parker, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Daryl S. McCormick, Special Agent in Charge, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant; the U.S. Marshals in Columbus and Chicago; ICE and HSI Chicago; J. William Rivers, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division; the Whitehall, Minerva Parka and Upper Arlington police departments; and Franklin County Sheriff Dallas Baldwin announced the indictment returned yesterday. Assistant U.S. Attorney Noah R. Litton is representing the United States in this case.

An indictment merely contains allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

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