Washington, D.C. – Two men from Brooklyn, New York, were sentenced today in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to more than 20 years each in prison for their roles in the Georgetown jewelry store robbery during which the owner was shot on August 20, 2006, U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor announced.

The Honorable Robert I. Richter sentenced 24-year-old Lexton Pellew to 24 years in prison and five years of supervised release. Judge Richter also sentenced Pellew’s 29-year-old co-conspirator, Jose Lucas, to 23 years in prison and five years of supervised release for his role in the same robbery. The two were found guilty in June 2008 of one count of conspiracy to rob, one count of second degree burglary while armed, three counts of armed robbery, three counts of kidnaping while armed, one count of felony threats, and nine counts of related gun charges. Pellew was also found guilty of one separate count of aggravated assault while armed and one corresponding count of possessing a firearm during a crime of violence.

According to the government’s evidence established at trial, five men from Brooklyn, New York, Lexton Pellew, Jose Lucas, Makonnen Romney, Chuka Ezeokoli, and Damian Hamilton, conspired to rob and did rob the Georgetown Jewelry Store located at 1265 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. on August 20, 2006. The men robbed the store in broad daylight, and, in the course of the robbery, Pellew shot the owner through the stomach, at close range, with a high powered handgun. The weapon used in the shooting was supplied by Jose Lucas. Chucka Ezeokoli, Damian Hamilton, and Makonnen Romney previously pled guilty and have previously been sentenced for their involvement in the subject crime.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Taylor praised the work of the lead Detective, Brad Wagner, Special Agent Michael Pinto of FBI, and all personnel assigned to the Robbery Task Force, which included members of the D.C. Metropolitan Police, D.C. and New York Regional Offices of the F.B.I., as well as the efforts of Detectives Scott Guginsky and Chris Padovano from the New York City Police Department, and the critical support efforts of paralegals Debra Smith, Wanda Trice, and Kalisha Clark, in addition to that of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amy Zubrensky and Timothy Lucas, who prosecuted the case.