Kaniya Sloan Sentenced in Arch Grounds Robbery Aid

Kaniya Sloan, 20, of Belleville, didn’t pull the trigger, but she helped cover the getaway. On Tuesday, she paid the price—two years behind bars—for aiding a juvenile gunman in an armed robbery on the grounds of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. The September 2021 heist unfolded in plain sight, just before dusk, as the teen victimized a man and woman at gunpoint near one of America’s most iconic landmarks.

The robbery struck at 7:30 p.m. on September 13, 2021. The juvenile, whose name is withheld due to age, forced the male victim to surrender his iPhone and wallet while the woman handed over her purse. Christopher Franklin, also 20, of St. Louis County, was present and later drove the group—including Sloan and the gunman—to a Walmart in Illinois. There, within 30 minutes of the crime, they dumped the stolen phones into an EcoATM kiosk, converting loot into cold cash.

Police moved fast. Two days later, officers with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department spotted Franklin’s vehicle downtown. When they pulled it over, they found Franklin, Sloan, and the juvenile inside. Tucked in the car: a black Glock 19 handgun and an item taken directly from the woman’s stolen purse. Evidence piled up fast—especially when cops showed them photos from the EcoATM transaction.

Faced with the digital trail, both Sloan and Franklin admitted their roles. They didn’t plan the robbery, but they enabled the aftermath—moving stolen goods, concealing evidence, and shielding the shooter. Both pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to a robbery, a federal charge that carries serious time despite not being the principal offender.

Franklin was sentenced in October to two years in prison. Sloan now joins him. U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig handed down the same 24-month sentence, sending a message that aiding violent crime on federal parkland won’t be treated lightly. The Gateway Arch, managed by the National Park Service, is no safe haven for criminals—or their accomplices.

The investigation was a joint effort between the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the National Park Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine Hoag prosecuted the case, ensuring accountability didn’t stop at the triggerman. In the grim economy of street crime, Sloan learned the hard way: complicity has consequences.

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