Long Beach man sentenced to 28 years in federal prison for Antelope Valley armed robberies

A 38-year old Long Beach resident was sentenced Friday to nearly 30 years in federal prison for leading several armed robberies in Antelope Valley, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced.

Kaleb Williams’ six-day trial in federal court, where a jury found him guilty on seven charges, finished up last September.

The crimes, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office news release, were committed in 2019 and were led by Williams and a co-conspirator, Terrance Cleyon Pearson, 44, of Long Beach, who has also since been convicted.

Four others — Gilbert Alexander Bailey Jr., 38, of Los Angeles; Tevaughn Brown, 33, of Bellflower; Da’Mari Mario Crane, 23, of Lancaster; and Tonisha Marie Johnson, 44, of Lancaster — have also been convicted for the robberies, the news release said. Those four and Pearson have not yet been sentenced.

Williams and the five accomplices robbed 348 pieces of jewelry, worth about $479,000, from a Lancaster jewelry store in July 2019, the release said. They also stole a Glock firearm and caused around $5,000 worth of damage before fleeing the scene.

“Two of the individuals then brandished handguns, intimidating both employees and a customer,” the news release said.

The group, also in 2019, robbed about $10,000 from a Party City in Palmdale.

“During that robbery, the robbers grabbed a store employee by the shirt and dragged her through the store,” the news release said. “One of the robbers, armed with a .45-caliber firearm, shot at a glass door that had closed and locked behind them during the robbery, shattering the door and allowing them to escape.”

The group also stole approximately $6,800 from a Home Depot vault in 2020, the news release said.

Williams, meanwhile, is the first of the group to receive a sentence for the crimes. He was sentenced to  339 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha, who also ordered him to pay $503,428 in restitution.

“Violent gun crime corrodes our community’s feeling of safety,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in the news release. “Today’s sentence shows criminals that when you break the law and use a gun to do it, the penalties will be severe.”