Serial Armed Robber Sentenced to 25 Years in Federal Prison

DALLAS — A Dallas man, Kevin Howard, who admitted that he and his accomplice, Jerry Ware, committed the armed robberies of five 7-Eleven/RaceTrac stores in Dallas in October 2014, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade to serve 300 months in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Howard, 24, pleaded guilty in April 2016 to one count of using, carrying, brandishing and discharging a firearm during or in relation to a crime of violence.   Co-defendant Ware, 28, also of Dallas, pleaded guilty in July 2015 to two counts of the same offense. 

According to documents filed in the case, the two committed five armed robberies in Dallas on October 24, 2014, and into the early morning hours of October 25, 2014, at the following locations:

October 24, 2014, 11:51 p.m.             7-Eleven store             2223 S. Beckley

October 25, 2014, 12:10 a.m.             RaceTrac store            8124 Forest Lane

October 25, 2014, 12:35 a.m.             7-Eleven store             9320 Skillman

October 25, 2014, 12:50 a.m.             7-Eleven store             10340 Forest Lane

October 25, 2014, 1:20 a.m.               7-Eleven store             14801 Coit Road

All of these five robberies were committed in essentially the same manner, including Ware’s use and brandishing of the silver loaded firearm to threaten and force the store clerks to comply with his demands, while Howard stayed in the car as the getaway driver. 

Howard also admitted that after this robbery spree, on October 28, 2014, he, on his own, committed the armed robbery of a 7-Eleven store at 10340 Forest Lane – the same store he and Ware robbed on October 25, 2014.  Howard entered the store, brandished a loaded firearm, and demanded the cash-register money from the clerk.  Minutes after the robbery, officers with the Dallas Police Department identified and arrested him.  Inside the car, pursuant to a search warrant, law enforcement found the clothing Howard used in the robbery and the firearm, a loaded, chrome-colored Jimenez Arms, Model JA Nine, 9mm pistol.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Dallas Police Department.  Criminal Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa J. Dunn prosecuted the case.

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