Washington, D.C. Man Sentenced to 22 Years for Maryland Cell Phone Store Robberies

A Washington, D.C. man has been sentenced to 22 years in federal prison for his role in a series of armed robberies targeting cell phone stores in Maryland. Xavier Jones, 26, was convicted for his participation in four robberies across Baltimore County, Howard County, and Prince George’s County, during which he and his accomplices brandished firearms, threatened employees and customers, and used pepper spray on victims. In addition to his prison term, Jones will serve three years of supervised release and must pay $74,141.26 in restitution.

The string of robberies began on October 23, 2020, with an incident at a Verizon store in College Park, where Jones and a co-conspirator forced victims into a backroom before stealing over $21,000 worth of mobile devices. On December 8, 2020, he and another accomplice robbed a Russell Cellular Verizon store in Columbia, initially posing as customers before pulling a firearm and ordering an employee to open a safe. They took over $22,000 in electronic devices and cash. A week later, on December 17, Jones and Donte Herring committed another robbery at a Verizon store in Halethorpe, again using firearms and stealing approximately $27,940 worth of Apple products, along with cash from the register.

The final robbery occurred on December 23, 2020, at an AT&T store in Owings Mills. Jones and two co-conspirators, Rico Dashiell and Donte Herring, entered the store under the pretense of shopping before announcing a robbery at gunpoint. They stole 76 Apple and Samsung Galaxy devices valued at $48,767, as well as cash. During the robbery, they forced three victims into a room containing a safe and pepper sprayed them before fleeing in a stolen Kia Niro. However, a GPS tracker hidden in one of the stolen phone boxes led law enforcement to a residence in Catonsville, where aviation units captured footage of the suspects unloading stolen merchandise.

Dashiell previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison, while Herring was convicted at trial and received a 20-year sentence. The FBI, along with police departments in Baltimore County, Howard County, and Prince George’s County, collaborated in the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul A. Riley and Michael F. Aubin prosecuted the case.

Article by multiple RFHC contributors.

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