Opinion : This Maryland Man is no Leonardo DeCaprio

Back in the good ol' days when late night shows were actually funny, Jay Leno had a segment that he called, "Stupid Criminals." In this week's episode would have been the story about a Maryland man. No, not the illegal immigrant that beat his wife and was into human trafficking, but another guy who had previously been convicted of robbing the Cedar Rapids Bank and Trust on January 3, 2024. This guy was sentenced again on November 14, 2025, to nearly three years in federal prison after convictions for robbing two convenience stores.

Andrew Philip Derr, age 23, of Fredrick, Maryland, received the prison term after a June 24, 2025, guilty plea to robbing two convenience stores and one count of money laundering.

Derr admitted that after leaving the military for misconduct in 2023, (you're kidding me, misconduct???) he moved to Iowa City and then conducted a string of robberies in the Cedar Rapids area. The man admitted that, on December 27, 2023, he robbed the Casey’s General Store in Robins and walked away with over $7,000 in cash and merchandise.  On January 1, 2024, he robbed the Kum & Go store on Four Oaks Drive in Cedar Rapids. 

This guy had previously been convicted of robbing the Cedar Rapids Bank and Trust branch on Council Street in Cedar Rapids on January 3, 2024, stealing more than $16,000 in cash.  Derr admitted that he flew to Maryland and made two deposits of more than $4,800. 

The United States Marshals Service tried to arrest Derr at his Iowa City apartment, and found a note written in reference to the Leonardo DiCaprio/Tom Hanks movie saying, “Catch me if you can.” 

The United States Marshals Service said, "Challenge accepted." Thanks to their efforts, Derr cried, "Uncle" and turned himself in at the Oreans Parish, Louisiana, Sheriff’s Office on January 12, 2024.

The wanna be movie star was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by the U.S. District Court to 34 months and 29 days in prison. This sentence will run concurrently with the remainder of Derr's state prison sentence for the bank robbery. 

The court also ordered Derr to pay $7,359.89 in restitution to Casey’s, $308.20 to Kum & Go, and $16,705 to Cedar Rapids Bank and Trust and to serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Since the United States Marshals Service "caught him because they could" Derr is in custody until he can be transported back to the Iowa prison system to continue serving his state prison sentence.