Man pleads guilty after robbing Birkdale Village jewelry store with sledgehammer
The leader of an organized theft ring that used sledgehammers to rob jewelry stores in multiple states, including one in the Charlotte area, pleaded guilty mid-trial on Wednesday.
Deuntria Lamar Lyons, a 45-year-old Georgia resident, pleaded guilty to Hobbs Act robbery and conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, the Department of Justice announced in a press release Friday. The Hobbs Act is a federal law prohibiting robbery that affects interstate or foreign commerce.
His co-conspirators, Brandane Smith and Alzaah Wade, previously pleaded guilty. All three now await sentencing.
The three targeted Fink’s Jewelers on Birkdale Commons Parkway as part of a string of armed robberies in 2023.
Wearing hooded sweatshirts and full-face masks, the robbers ordered employees to one part of the room at gunpoint before two of them smashed the glass display cases with sledgehammers, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
They stole about $500,000 in diamonds and watches before fleeing, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Investigators determined the group was also responsible for armed robberies in South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee.
The FBI and local law enforcement apprehended the three while they were attempting to carry out another heist in Dunwoody, Georgia, in December 2023.
Lyons will face up to 20 years in prison for each charge.
“Robberies at gunpoint like Lyons and his crew carried out are terrifying,” said Russ Ferguson, U.S. attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. “We will do all that is necessary to put an end to these actions, and I am glad Mr. Lyons pled guilty before wasting more of the jury’s time.”
