Ronnell Kareem Levon Johnson, Armed Robbery, Virginia 2019

RICHMOND, Va. - A federal jury in Richmond convicted Ronnell Kareem Levon Johnson, 27, of Norfolk, for his role in robbing a Sprint Store in Colonial Heights in January 2019.

Johnson, his co-conspirator, T.R., traveled from the Norfolk area to Colonial Heights on the afternoon of January 7, 2019, to commit a violent armed robbery. During the robbery, T.R. brandished a loaded .40 caliber Ruger semi-automatic pistol and forced two employees into a back room of the store, where he let Johnson in through the back entrance.

Johnson entered the store and started gathering Sprint Store merchandise into a bag. Johnson and T.R. then held the two employees hostage in the back room and attempted to tie up both employees while they completed the robbery. Due to a time-delay lock on the store's safe, the defendants had to wait approximately twenty minutes for the safe to open.

During that time, two separate customers entered the front of the store. T.R. let one of the employees assist each customer, along with a warning that the employee would be killed if he tried to alert anyone about the crime. The employee followed those instructions and the final customer left without incident. Minutes after the second customer departed, the time-delay lock on the safe opened, allowing Johnson and T.R. to steal dozens of cellular telephones and other store merchandise valued at approximately $25,000.

Johnson faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison when sentenced on August 13. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the violent crime reduction efforts.

Johnson was convicted of one count of robbery affecting commerce.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/jury-convicts-virginia-man-role-armed-robbery