Group dressed as cops ‘terrorized’ families in their homes in robbery scheme, feds say
A man was putting away Christmas lights when a group of armed individuals appeared outside his home and forced him inside, demanding to know where he kept “dope,” according to court documents.
In recalling the home invasion, the man testified in federal court in Florida that he was repeatedly pistol-whipped in the head by the individuals as they raided his residence, where he lived with his brother, in January 2021, court documents say.
The attack was one of several violent, nighttime robberies carried out by a crew of Florida residents often dressed as law enforcement officers from December 2020 through April 2021, according to federal prosecutors. The FBI began investigating the group in February 2021 with local law enforcement agencies, court documents show.
While typically wearing all black and vests displaying “sheriff,” the individuals would pull up to a home in a black SUV in the middle of the night and wake up the residents inside, prosecutors said.
Those inside the homes were often family members, who were handcuffed, “beaten, pistol whipped, threatened, and, on several occasions, shot,” according to prosecutors.
The invasions happened in four Florida counties — Pasco, Polk, Lee and Hillsborough — and in Georgia and Arizona, prosecutors said.
“They terrorized husbands, wives, mothers, grandmothers, nephews, and even children,” prosecutors wrote in court documents.
Final defendant sentenced
The last of nine defendants, Darius Hudson, a 44-year-old Arcadia resident, has been sentenced to 39 years and nine months in prison in connection with the armed robbery scheme, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced May 31.
On Jan. 22, a federal jury convicted him of a conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, three separate Hobbs Act robberies, and brandishing and discharging a firearm during the commission of the robberies, the U.S. Attorney’s office said in a news release.
The goal of the home invasions, according to prosecutors, was to rob homes of drugs believed to be inside, as well as “drug proceeds.”
Hudson is accused of bringing zip ties inside a white backpack to restrain victims during the robberies, according to prosecutors. During one home invasion in Lakeland in February 2021, Hudson was seen, wearing the white backpack, with another individual in surveillance footage from the residence, according to an affidavit.
He was involved in three incidents in which “his victims were beaten, pistol whipped, and shot at,” a sentencing memorandum filed by prosecutors says.
One “co-conspirator” testified Hudson shot at a victim during one of the robberies in Plant City in February 2021, according to the sentencing memo.
Attorney J. Jervis Wise, who represented Hudson, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on June 3.
At trial, Hudson denied his involvement in the robbery “conspiracy” and denied that anyone was injured, according to prosecutors.
However, several victims testified about how they were tied up inside their homes, beaten and left bloodied, the sentencing memo says.
Others sentenced
In addition to Hudson, the eight others involved in the robbery scheme, according to prosecutors, include:
Reginald Roberts Jr., 24, of Lakeland
Nathaniel Keith Carr, 24, of Avon Park
Daniel Jackson, 31, of Winter Haven
Chrishawn Butler, 24, of Bartow
Jeremy Bernard Hazelton, 28, of Bartow
O’Marie Danyell Hudson, 26, of Orlando
Jasmine Weber, 30, of Deltona
Elyana Bazail, 25, of Lakeland
In April 2022, charges were first brought against Roberts, Carr, Butler and Jackson in an 11-count indictment, court docs show.
The lengthiest prison sentence was issued to Roberts, who was sentenced to 41 years in prison, followed by Hudson, prosecutors said.
Attorneys representing Roberts didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment.
Carr was sentenced to 26 years and six months in prison, Jackson was sentenced to 22 years and 11 months in prison and Butler was sentenced to 20 years and six months in prison, according to prosecutors.
Attorney Grady Irvin, who represented Jackson, told McClatchy News on June 3 that U.S. District Judge Kathryn Mizelle “accurately pointed out the severity of the charges against the defendants involved in the underlying conspiracy that spread across a myriad of counties in Florida.”
“The sentences imposed by (Mizelle) reflect such,” Irvin said in an emailed statement.
Attorney Mark J. O’Brien, who represented Butler, told McClatchy News that Butler “accepted full responsibility for his criminal actions.”
“He did what was right, after first doing what was wrong…Mr. Butler will serve his time and then move on with his life,” O’Brien said in an email.
As for the other two men, Hazelton was sentenced to 15 years and eight months in prison and O’Marie Danyell Hudson was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison, according to prosecutors.
Attorney Mark P. Rankin, who represented Hazelton, told McClatchy News that his client “took full responsibility for his role in the offenses and accepted his punishment.”
He said that the government accused Hazelton of being the “ringleader” in the case, but Rankin denied this assertion.
Hazleton “did not participate in all of the illegal activities charged in this case” and “looks forward to putting this behind him and moving on with his life with family,” Rankin said.
The two women accused of being involved in the case, Weber and Bazail, were each sentenced to five years in prison, according to prosecutors.
Attorneys separately representing O’Marie Danyell Hudson, Weber and Bazail didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ requests for comment.
Ahead of Darius Hudson’s sentencing, prosecutors argued in support of a sentence that “reflects the gravity” of the crimes.
In addition to the FBI, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, the Bartow Police Department, the Lakeland Police Department, the Dade City Police Department, the Cape Coral Police Department, the Pasco Sheriff’s Office, the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office, the Arcadia Police Department and the Florida Highway Patrol investigated the case.
This story was originally published June 3, 2024 at 1:32 PM with the headline "Group dressed as cops ‘terrorized’ families in their homes in robbery scheme, feds say."
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