Final Defendant Pleads Guilty in Armed Robbery of Pharmacy Van

            WASHINGTON D.C. – Juwuan Edward Francis Champion, 24, of Bowie, Md., pleaded guilty yesterday to his role in the felony armed robbery of a pharmaceutical van driver and a firearms charge, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Special Agent in Charge Craig Kailimai of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) Washington Field Division.

            Champion, aka “Big Money,” pleaded guilty on December 19, 2023, to conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce by robbery (known as conspiracy to commit a Hobbs Act robbery) and unlawful possession of a machine gun. U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta scheduled sentencing for March 15, 2024.

            Champion was part of a four-member crew participating in a drug trafficking operation in the Potomac Gardens neighborhood of Southeast Washington. The three other members included Fitzgerald Hunt, 24, of Washington, D.C., also known as “GMoney;” Joshua Johnson, 18, of Capitol Heights, Md., also known as “Lil Josh,” and Keyshawn Lavender, 20, of Washington, D.C., also known as “Key.” From January to October 2021, the crew members allegedly trafficked in Oxycodone, Alprazolam, and other illegal narcotics.

            In pleading guilty, Champion, Hunt, and Johnson admitted that on March 30, 2021, they conspired to rob a pharmaceutical delivery van driver outside a pharmacy in Waldorf, Md.  The driver was placed in handcuffs, hit on the head with a firearm, and then the defendants drove the van back to Washington, D.C., with its pharmaceutical contents.

            Law enforcement arrested the four men on October 7, 2021.

            Hunt, Johnson, and Lavender previously pleaded guilty.  Hunt was sentenced on September 29, 2023, to 108 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release. Johnson, who was 17 years old at the time of the robbery, pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy and separately pled guilty to related local charges in Charles County, Maryland in a global resolution. 

            Lavender was not charged with the robbery and pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy and received a sentence of 30 months in prison.

            This case was investigated by the ATF Washington Field Office and the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).  Critical support was provided by the Charles County Md. Sheriff’s Office and Charles County State’s Attorney’s Office, and additional assistance was provided by the U.S. Marshals Service, the Prince George’s County, Md. Police Department, and Anne Arundel County, Md. Police Department.

            The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Candice Wong and Solomon Eppel of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Assistance was provided by former Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Allison McGuire.