Maurice Quinn, Gunpoint Robbery, Pennsylvania 2022

In a brazen armed robbery that terrorized a Philadelphia corner store, Maurice Quinn, 42, of Philadelphia, PA, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison and five years of supervised release for Hobbs Act robbery and carrying and using a firearm during the commission of a violent crime.

The crime occurred on March 2019, when Quinn entered RD Grocery in East Mount Airy and complained to a store employee that the store’s ATM had given him fake money. Quinn then attempted to grab both money from the register and a firearm kept by the owner behind the counter.

Unable to grab the money or firearm, Quinn left and returned with his co-defendants, Abid Stevens and Donnie Smith, both 41 and also of Philadelphia, PA. Smith and Stevens brandished their firearms in the store employee’s face and Smith took the firearm from behind the counter.

Quinn then again attempted to take cash from the register but failed. He demanded that the store employee open the register for him; the employee then opened the register, withdrew $100 in cash, and gave it to Quinn.

Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams called Quinn’s actions ‘appalling’ and said that ‘if you rob a store in Philadelphia with a firearm, you are going to face serious federal prison time as a result.’

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Philadelphia Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert E. Eckert and Special Assistant United States Attorney Ashley N. Martin.

The case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that brings together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.

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