Jovaun Patterson Gets 14+ Years for Philly Store Shooting

A West Philadelphia man opened fire with an assault rifle during a botched convenience store heist in 2018, leaving a Cambodian-born shop owner paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. Jovaun Patterson, 31, of Philadelphia, PA, was sentenced to 171 months in federal prison—14 years and three months—plus 5 years of supervised release by United States District Judge Mitchell S. Goldberg.

The shooting occurred on May 5, 2018, during an attempted armed robbery of KCJ, Inc., a corner store in West Philadelphia. Patterson discharged the assault rifle at store owner Li “Mike” Poeng, a U.S. citizen since 1998 and a refugee from Cambodia. The bullet shattered Poeng’s spine, ending any chance of walking again. The attack was not just a robbery—it was an act of raw, life-altering violence captured on surveillance and etched into the city’s growing trauma.

In December 2019, Patterson pleaded guilty to attempted Hobbs Act robbery and to using, carrying, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office had initially charged him with attempted murder and aggravated assault but dropped the attempted murder count in exchange for a plea deal calling for just 3½ to 10 years—what federal prosecutors called an “overly lenient” bargain. The U.S. Attorney’s Office stepped in to fix the failure of local justice.

“Violent crime is a severe problem in Philadelphia, as shootings and homicides have sharply increased in 2020 from already intolerable levels,” said U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain. “Taking Jovaun Patterson off the streets for an appropriate amount of time is part of that fight.” McSwain emphasized that the sentence sends a message: commit violence in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and you’ll face federal time—hard time.

John Schmidt, acting Special Agent in Charge of ATF’s Philadelphia Field Division, called the sentence the result of relentless collaboration between federal and local forces. “Today an extremely violent offender has been sentenced to a lengthy prison term,” Schmidt said. “This outcome is the result of ATF’s joint work with the Philadelphia Police Department to combat gun violence.” That partnership, he stressed, remains locked in a daily battle against illegal firearms and the criminals who wield them.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Philadelphia Police Department, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Salvatore L. Astolfi. It falls under Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the Justice Department’s nationwide push to dismantle violent crime networks through coordinated federal action. In Philadelphia, where every gunshot echoes through struggling blocks, the message is clear: federal prosecutors are stepping in where local leniency fails, and they’re coming hard.