Hampton Man Sentenced for Armed Robbery and Obstruction
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A Hampton man was sentenced today to over 14 years in prison for armed robbery and obstructing his federal prosecution.
According to court documents, Jesse Lockhart, 24, robbed an Exxon gas station in Hampton, while brandishing a firearm. During the robbery, Lockhart dropped a package of cigarettes that he had stolen from the store. Forensic technicians recovered his left palm print from the cigarette package, and later the store clerk picked Lockhart out of a photo line-up. After Lockhart’s federal arrest, Lockhart along with his mother Germekia Lockhart, 40, and girlfriend Tamara Washington, 34, both of Newport News, conspired and executed a plan to falsify evidence in Lockhart’s federal case. Lockhart, his mother and Washington agreed to obtain a replica airsoft firearm and provide it to federal authorities. Lockhart’s mother provided Washington with a description of the firearm used in the robbery. Washington, a sheriff’s deputy, purchased a look-alike airsoft pistol from the internet. She modified the firearm so it would look real and delivered it to Lockhart’s mother. Federal agents picked up with firearm from Lockhart’s mother only weeks before Lockhart was to be tried on the violent crimes. The conspiracy was uncovered when federal agents reviewed recorded jail calls between the parties and confronted Washington.
Both Washington and Germekia Lockhart were each sentenced to 27 months in prison for their roles in the plan to obstruct justice. Jesse Lockhart was sentenced today to 176 months.
Tracy Doherty-McCormick, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Thomas L. Chittum, III, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) Washington Field Division, Terry L. Sult, Chief of Hampton Police Division, and Anton A. Bell, Commonwealth Attorney for the City of Hampton, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy E. Cross prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:17-cr-2.
Joshua Stueve
Director of Communications
joshua.stueve@usdoj.gov