Two Metro East Men Sentenced for Robbing Marijuana Dealer and Shooting Witness

Benton, Ill. – Two men have been sentenced for their role in a 2018 marijuana robbery and shooting 
in Caseyville, Illinois.   Deveon Humphries, 28,   was sentenced to 144 months in federal prison on 
one count of interfering with commerce by robbery and one count of discharging a firearm during and 
in relation to a crime of violence. The sentencing hearing was conducted on Monday, November 22, 
2021, in U.S. District Court in Benton, Illinois. Humphries pled guilty to the charges in May of 
this year. His co-defendant, Dartaniel Pruitt, 27, was sentenced in August of this year.
According  to  court  documents,  the  crimes  occurred  on  September  30,  2018,  when  Humphries 
arranged a fake marijuana sale with the plan to rob the marijuana dealer. Humphries was armed and 
had  concocted  a  plan  with  his  co-defendant,  Pruitt,  to  take  the  marijuana  at  gunpoint. 
 During  the robbery,  Humphries  shot  a  witness  several  times.  Pruitt  and  Humphries  fled  
the  scene  with  the marijuana.   The   Caseyville   Police   Department   investigated   the   
robbery   and   later   recovered Humphries’ firearm.

As  part  of  their  sentences,  Humphries  and  Pruitt  were  also  ordered  to  serve  a  5-year  
term  of supervised release.

This  case  was  brought  as  part  of  Project  Safe  Neighborhoods  (PSN),  the  centerpiece  of  
the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program 
proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders 
work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop 
comprehensive solutions  to  address  them.  As  part  of  this  strategy,  PSN  focuses  
enforcement  efforts  on  the  most violent  offenders  and  partners  with  locally  based  
prevention  and  reentry  programs  for  lasting reductions in crime.

The investigation was conducted by the Caseyville Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, 
Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Alexandria Burns.