MOBILE, AL – Carlos Dominick Balams, a resident of Mobile, Alabama, will spend the next decade behind bars after being sentenced to 120 months’ imprisonment for the August 2, 2022, armed robbery of a Dollar Tree store. U.S. District Court Judge Terry F. Moorer delivered the sentence on June 1, 2023, following a federal investigation that quickly linked Balams to the crime.
The robbery unfolded at the Dollar Tree located at 5201 Cottage Hill Road. Mobile Police Department officers were dispatched after receiving reports of a man brandishing a firearm inside the store. Before even arriving on scene, officers received a crucial description: the suspect, later identified as Carlos Balams, was fleeing the area on foot, wearing a reflective vest and other distinctive clothing.
Officers didn’t have to look far. Balams was apprehended near Cottage Hill Road and Knollwood Drive. A search of the immediate area yielded a stolen cache of cash from the Dollar Tree, a firearm, and two cellular phones. One of the phones had been snatched directly from a victim during the robbery. The evidence painted a clear picture of a brazen and violent act.
Back at the Dollar Tree, employees and victims positively identified Balams as the armed robber. Authorities recovered nearly all items worn during the crime, including the firearm used, a mask, the reflective vest, and a backpack. Even a single sneaker, lost during his flight, proved damning – its unique U-shaped trim matched the footwear visible on the store’s security footage.
The investigation was a joint effort between the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Mobile Police Department. The ATF’s Nashville Field Division played a key role in building the case against Balams. Assistant United States Attorney George F. May prosecuted the case, securing the 10-year sentence for the robbery and the associated firearm charge.
Balams’s conviction underscores the federal commitment to prosecuting violent crimes, even those targeting seemingly low-value establishments like the Dollar Tree. The swift apprehension and conviction serve as a warning to other would-be robbers in the Mobile area – armed robbery carries serious consequences, and federal agencies are working tirelessly to bring perpetrators to justice.
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