Four More Individuals Charged In Manhattan Federal Court With Participating In A Multi-State Robbery Crew That Used Violence, Including Firearms, To Steal More Than $1 Million In Luxury Watches

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, George Venizelos, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and William J. Bratton, the Police Commissioner of the City of New York (“NYPD”), announced the unsealing of a seven-count Superseding Indictment yesterday charging eight members of a robbery crew operating across New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and Connecticut with robbery conspiracy and robberies of high-end jewelry and watch stores using violence, including firearms, and resulting in the theft of more than one million dollars in watches and other goods.

The Superseding Indictment charges SEAN ROBINSON, 42, ALLEN WILLIAMS, 35, ROBERTO GRANT, 33, TERRELL RATLIFF, 22, TYRONE DEHOYOS, 35, RALIK HANSEN, 28, RONALD MCINTYRE, 36 and KENDAL THOMPSON, 30, with robbery conspiracy, substantive robbery, and firearms offenses. Five of the defendants – WILLIAMS, GRANT, RATLIFF, DEHOYOS, and THOMPSON – were previously arrested and detained pending trial. Yesterday, ROBINSON was arrested in Brooklyn, New York, and McINTYRE was transferred into federal custody, and both were arraigned before Judge Robert P. Patterson and detained pending trial. HANSEN remains wanted by the FBI and is considered to be armed and dangerous.

According to the allegations contained in the Superseding Indictment, other court documents previously filed in federal court, and statements made in Court yesterday:

Between approximately July 1, 2013, and January 30, 2014, a highly organized crew engaged in a series of violent robberies of high-end jewelry and watch stores located in four states, smashed display cases with hammers, while customers and employees were in the stores, and stole more than one million dollars in luxury watches. The crew used violence as necessary to carry out the scheme. For example, during one robbery in September 2013 in Brooklyn, New York, two of the robbers displayed handguns, and a store owner was shot when he attempted to prevent members of the crew from fleeing with their stolen watches. In another robbery in August 2013 in Richmond, Virginia, the robbers used a handheld stun gun to subdue a female store employee before fleeing with more than a $100,000 in watches.

Among the stores robbed by the crew are: Cartier in Manhattan, New York; the Borgata Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey; Schwarzschild’s Jewelers in Richmond, Virginia; Martin Jewelers in Cranford, New Jersey; Henry Reid and Sons Jewelers in New Canaan, Connecticut, and Litan Jewelers in Brooklyn, New York.

Mr. Bharara praised the investigative work of the FBI and the NYPD. He also thanked the police departments of Cranford, New Jersey; Atlantic City, New Jersey; Richmond, Virginia; and New Canaan, Connecticut, and the Manhattan and Brooklyn District Attorneys’ Offices, and the Union County, New Jersey, Prosecutor’s Office, for their assistance in the investigation, which he noted is ongoing.

The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Andrea Griswold and Richard Cooper are in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Superseding Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. The maximum sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencings of the defendants will be determined by the judge.

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U.S. v. Allen Williams et al. S3 Indictment