Rufus E. Dennis, Attempted Home Invasion Robbery, Nebraska 2024

A 43-year-old Omaha man, Rufus E. Dennis, has been sentenced to 270 months in federal prison for attempted home invasion robbery.

U.S. Attorney Jan Sharp announced the sentencing of Dennis in federal court in Omaha.

Dennis, who was out on parole for second-degree murder at the time of the crime, intended to murder victims during a planned home invasion robbery, according to the FBI.

The evidence showed that Dennis cased a family’s home on four separate occasions in January 2020, gathering information about the home and the family’s movements.

A single mother of two young children lived in the home, and Dennis planned to do physical harm to her in the presence of her elderly mother once he gained entry to the residence.

Dennis ultimately planned to shoot anyone who saw his face during the home invasion and even attempted to buy handguns from an undercover officer and recruited a confidential informant with the FBI to act as his lookout and getaway driver for the home invasion.

On the morning of the planned home invasion, agents, investigators, and officers with the Greater Omaha Safe Streets Task Force executed search and arrest warrants at Dennis’s residence and recovered a stolen firearm with Dennis’s DNA on it.

Chief U.S. District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Dennis to a term of 270 months of imprisonment, with no parole in the federal system.

After completing his term of imprisonment, Dennis will begin a 5-year term of supervised release.

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