Armed robbery of Billings convenience store sends man to prison for more than 18 years

BILLINGS – A man who admitted using a gun to hold up a Billings convenience store and to shooting the clerk in the arm was sentenced today to 18 years and nine months in prison and to five years of supervised release, Acting U.S. Attorney Leif Johnson said.

Darren Samuel Whiteman, 37, a transient, pleaded guilty on Nov. 20, 2020 to robbery affecting commerce and to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence as charged in an indictment.

U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided.

The prosecution said in court documents that on Nov. 24, 2019, the Billings Police Department responded to an armed robbery at the Gas n Go, located at 800 Jackson Ave. During the robbery, the suspect, identified through the investigation as Whiteman, shot the clerk in the arm with a handgun. The victim reported that Whiteman said, “Open the cash register. I’m robbing the place. Imma pop this bitch.” Whiteman then shot the clerk and fled in a pickup truck.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin Rubich prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Billings Police Department.

This case is part of Project Guardian, a Department of Justice initiative launched in the fall of 2019 to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws. Through Project Guardian, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Montana is working to enhance coordination of its federal, state, tribal and local law enforcement partners in investigating and prosecuting gun crimes. In addition, Project Guardian supports information sharing and taking action when individuals are denied a firearm purchase by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System for mental health reasons or because they are a prohibited person.

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