Delshawn Lemons, Armed Robbery, Missouri 2020

Kansas City, MO – Delshawn Lemons, a 27-year-old Kansas City, MO resident, was found guilty of armed robbery with the assistance of the store’s assistant manager, Veronika Rodriguez, at a Family Dollar store.

On June 8, 2020, Lemons stole $3,102 at gunpoint from the Family Dollar store at 4401 E. 50th Terrace in Kansas City, MO. Lemons and co-defendant Bobby J. Booker, Jr., 25, were both armed with handguns and wearing masks when they entered the store. They held two store employees at gunpoint while Rodriguez put all the money in a bag.

Lemons and Booker then left the store, leaving behind a trail of evidence that would lead investigators to their doorstep. Rodriguez told investigators that Lemons had approached her about robbing the store and promised her a share of the robbery proceeds. She also revealed that Lemons had approached her about setting up other men for him to rob.

A jury in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, MO deliberated for three and a half hours before returning guilty verdicts to U.S. District Judge Nanette K. Laughrey. Lemons was found guilty of one count of robbery and one count of possessing a firearm during a crime of violence.

Under federal statutes, Lemons is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of life in federal prison without parole. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Marquez and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan A. Baker. It was investigated by the FBI and the Kansas City, MO Police Department as part of Operation LeGend, a federal partnership with local law enforcement to address the increase in homicides and violent crime in Kansas City, MO in 2020.

Operation LeGend was created in honor of four-year-old LeGend Taliferro, one of the youngest fatalities during a record-breaking year of homicides and shootings in Kansas City, MO. Additional federal agents were assigned to the operation from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the U.S. Marshals Service.

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