Philadelphia Man Convicted of Two North Philadelphia Cell Phone Store Armed Robberies

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Darius Carter, 40, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was convicted today at trial of two counts of Hobbs Act Robbery (i.e., robbery which interferes with interstate commerce) arising from the robbery of two cell phone stores on the same block in the Fairhill section of North Philadelphia, both within one week in October 2018.

During the first incident, two men entered a Boost Mobile store on the 2700 block of North Fifth Street -- one of whom was the defendant, who brandished what appeared to be a Glock-style pistol, took $600 and fled.  During the second incident five days later, the defendant entered a second store alone, a Metro PCS on the same block, and took $500 while once again displaying what appeared to be a handgun. 

“The complete disregard that Carter displayed for the safety of others is appalling,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “The employees of these stores were simply doing their jobs, while the defendant terrorized them in a very short span of time.  The streets of Philadelphia are safer now that Carter has been convicted and is facing significant prison time.”

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.   The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kelly Harrell and Nancy Winter.