NEVADA (KTNV) — A Las Vegas man was sentenced today to 24 years in prison for robbing a bank at gunpoint and for two jewelry store armed robberies while he was on supervised release, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Trutanich for the District of Nevada.
Deandre Nakita Brown, 36, previously pleaded guilty to two counts of interference with commerce by robbery and one count of bank robbery.
In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey sentenced him to 3 years of supervised release.
According to admissions made in his plea agreement, on August 1, 2016, Brown, armed with a firearm, ran directly to and jumped over the cashier counter at a bank located on West Craig Road.
Brown yelled, "Everyone hit the floor!" - pointed his handgun at three employees demanding money and stole a total of $17,862 from the bank.
The 36-year-old was completing his sentence at the Residential Re-entry Center on his 2009 federal conviction for Brandishing a Firearm in relation to a Crime of Violence when he committed this offense.
On January 3, 2017, Brown and co-conspirators Aquail Harris and Brian Wright robbed a jewelry store located on Rainbow Boulevard in northwest Las Vegas.
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Brown and Harris entered the store, pointing their firearms at employees and customers, including two young children, and forcing them to their knees.
Harris physically removed the security guard's firearm, and the robbers took the gun along with the stolen jewelry.
The two gunmen delivered the stolen jewelry and watches valued at over $850,000 to the getaway vehicle driven by two additional co-conspirators, Kendareen Hudson and Safiyyah Christopher.
Ten days later, on January 13, Brown, Wright and co-defendants Carl Whitley and Randy Jerousek robbed a jewelry store located on West Charleston Blvd in the Summerlin area of Las Vegas.
Brown entered the store, pointing a gun at employees and directing them to fill garbage bags with jewelry and watches.
Approximately $765,000 worth of jewelry was stolen. Brown fled in a getaway vehicle driven by co-conspirator Randy Jerousek. Brown was on federal supervision relating to his 2009 conviction at the time that he committed the two jewelry store robberies.
Harris and Wright were also on federal supervised release at the time that they planned and committed the jewelry store robberies with Brown.
Co-defendants Christopher, Hudson, Jerousek, and Whitley, all pleaded guilty for their involvement in the armed robberies.
A jury convicted Wright and sentenced him to 27 years in prison for his role in the jewelry store robberies.
Brown's 2009 conviction arose from his armed robbery of an Albertson's grocery store. He was previously convicted in 2005 for robbing a series of five banks around Las Vegas.
The case was investigated by the FBI's Safe Streets Task Force and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexandra Michael, Nadia Ahmed, and Lisa Cartier-Giroux prosecuted the case.
