Mocobizscene- A convicted murderer, who prosecutors have described as “a walking crime spree,” was sentenced on Monday to 27 years in federal prison. The individual was found guilty of robbing and attempting to rob around a dozen businesses in Los Angeles County. This included a veterinarian’s office. These crimes were committed over a span of five days while the perpetrator was on parole from state prison for armed robbery.
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Justin Washington, a 34-year-old resident of Gardena, has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson. As part of the sentencing, he has been ordered to pay $10,119 in restitution and fines, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In October, Washington admitted his guilt for 10 charges of interfering with commerce through robbery and one count of displaying a firearm during a violent crime.
In September 2020, Washington was released from state prison after serving a 10-year sentence for armed robbery and possession of a deadly weapon. However, less than two months later, federal prosecutors accused Washington of murdering a rival gang member. Furthermore, between November 30 and December 4, 2020, prosecutors stated that Washington committed a series of robberies and attempted robberies at 10 businesses in the South Bay and South Los Angeles.
The robbery spree started at the Gardena grocery store, where he committed robberies on consecutive days on November 30 and December 1, 2020, as mentioned in the papers filed in Los Angeles federal court. Following that, Washington proceeded to rob a 7-Eleven store, a donut shop, and made an attempted robbery at a veterinarian’s office, all in Gardena. In addition, he targeted a donut shop in Torrance and several businesses in South Los Angeles, including a wireless phone store, a dry cleaner business, two more donut shops, and finally, a Baskin-Robbins ice cream store, as stated in the court documents.
During his five-day crime spree, prosecutors said that Washington managed to steal a total of $9,019 in cash and personal property.
During his time in state custody, which began in December 2020 and lasted until July, Washington was found guilty of first-degree murder and received a prison sentence of 75 years to life. Currently, he has been in federal custody for approximately six months. It is important to note that 20 years of his 27-year federal prison sentence will be served consecutively with his state prison sentence for the murder conviction.
Los Angeles U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada expressed his belief that the defendant was a prolific perpetrator of crimes and therefore deserved a significant federal prison sentence.
“My office considers the removal of violent criminals like this defendant from our streets to be one of our top priorities. We are committed to prosecuting individuals who put our community at risk with utmost determination.”
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