Man Sentenced for Hobbs Act Robbery in Fayetteville
JACKSON was named in a 2-count Indictment filed on August 14, 2017. On August 21, 2017, JACKSON subsequently pled guilty to one-count of Hobbs Act Robbery.
The evidence presented to the Court showed that JACKSON robbed the Food Lion grocery store on Bragg Boulevard in Fayetteville on August 14, 2016. Store video surveillance revealed JACKSON entered the store just prior to its closing and crawled on his hands and knees, often conducting combat rolls, to avoid being seen by store employees. JACKSON hid in the rear of the store until the store closed and the store’s customer service representative went into the office to count the till. He then slowly moved to the front of the store, walking and crawling, and crouched behind the customer service counter to wait for the customer service representative to return to place the till in the store’s safe. Upon the customer service representative’s return, JACKSON pointed a handgun at her and said, “Shush, put the money in a bag.” The handgun JACKSON used during the robbery was later determined to be a BB gun. The customer service representative backed away from the money, and JACKSON took that money, as well as money from the open safe. JACKSON fled the store on foot with $1,400.
This case was part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiative which encourages federal, state, and local agencies to cooperate in a unified “team effort” against gun crime, targeting repeat offenders who continually plague their communities.
The Fayetteville Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) conducted the criminal investigation of this case. Assistant United States Attorney James J. Kurosad handled the prosecution of this case for the government.