Akeem Lahens, Armed Robbery, Massachusetts 2024

BOSTON, MA – In a series of brazen armed robberies that left Boston business owners shaken, Akeem Lahens, 34, has been sentenced to 77 months in prison for robbing four businesses in late April and early May 2023.

Lahens, a Boston man, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs on July 31, 2024, for his role in the armed robberies of Metro PCS in Roxbury, Boost Mobile in Jamaica Plain, Cricket Wireless in Jamaica Plain, and Dunkin Donuts in Dorchester.

During the robberies, Lahens brandished two large knives, made verbal demands for money, and forcibly took cash from the stores. He also attempted to force or force victims into a rear room or bathroom of the store.

The robberies occurred on April 21, April 26, April 27, and May 4, 2023, leaving a trail of fear and destruction in their wake. Law enforcement believed the robberies were connected, and surveillance footage showed a suspect matching Lahens’ description.

On May 5, 2023, Lahens was arrested on state charges related to the armed robberies. During a search of his residence in Dorchester on May 6, 2023, police recovered two knives and sandals worn by the robber in one of the incidents.

Lahens was on federal supervised release at the time of the armed robberies, having been sentenced to 30 months in prison in 2021 for a conviction in the Southern District of New York of five counts of robbery.

As part of his sentence, Lahens was ordered to pay $1,998 in restitution to the four businesses he robbed. He will also serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Tobin of the Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case, which was announced by Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy, Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division, Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox, and Michael A. Davis, Vice President Campus Safety and Chief of Police at Northeastern University.