TAMPA, Fla. – Antonio Brown, 55, Tampa, and Steve Jackson, 41, Tampa, have each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit robbery, two counts of robbery, and one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime.
Each faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 7 years for the firearm offense and up to 20 years in federal prison on the conspiracy count and each count of robbery.
According to the plea agreements, Brown and Jackson conspired to commit armed robberies of two auto parts stores in the Tampa area.
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On August 29, 2021, at around 7:00 p.m., Brown and Jackson drove from Jackson’s residence to an auto parts store on South Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa.
Surveillance video captured the pair leaving Jackson’s residence in a white pickup truck with distinctive damage to the rear passenger portion of the vehicle.
Brown wore dark clothing, a tan face mask, and a distinctive straw hat and brandished a revolver. Jackson wore a surgical mask and a black baseball cap and brandished a semi-automatic pistol.
At the auto parts store, Brown and Jackson pulled out their firearms and demanded money from the store employees. Brown instructed one employee to empty the cash registers in the front of the store and ordered the other employees to go to back of the store and open a safe.
Brown and Jackson got away with roughly $300 from the cash registers. Jackson and Brown then returned to the pickup truck and drove to another auto parts store located near 50th Street North in Ybor City, via the Selmon Expressway, wearing the same clothing and carrying the same firearms.
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At around 7:50 p.m., Jackson and Brown entered the Ybor City auto parts store, brandished their firearms, and demanded the store employees retrieve cash from the registers.
The pair stole approximately $1,140. Nearby surveillance footage captured Brown and Jackson leaving the store, entering the white pickup truck, and driving away.
At around 10:00 p.m., officers from the Tampa Police Department (“TPD”) conducted a traffic stop of the pickup truck which Brown was driving. Inside the vehicle, officers located the straw hat that Brown had worn during the armed robberies, approximately $900 in cash, and Jackson’s wallet containing his identification.
Further investigation corroborated Brown and Jackson’s proximity to the Tampa and Ybor City auto parts stores during the robberies.
TPD officers also collected disposed items from Jackson’s garbage outside his residence and recovered the clothes he had worn during the armed robberies.
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