A member of a notorious group who robbed an armored car in 2022 has been sentenced to nearly 14 years in federal prison.
James Russell Davis, 35, of Los Angeles was described by the United States Department of Justice as a lookout for the “Chesapeake Bandits,” who robbed an armored car at gunpoint on Feb. 14, 2022.
The DOJ says Davis admitted to scouting out a credit union in Hawthorne with a co-conspirator and devising a plan to ambush the driver of an armored vehicle after he finished servicing an ATM.
Davis and his accomplices returned to the site weeks later and executed their plan, with Davis operating as a lookout while his partners, armed with an assault rifle and a semi-automatic handgun, emerged from their vehicle and held the driver at gunpoint.
One of the armed men pushed the driver to the ground and removed his service pistol and held him at gunpoint during the robbery, the DOJ said. At one point, a shot was fired from a handgun, possibly by Davis, although no one was injured.
The robbery crew stole cash and customer checks from the ATMs and bags of cash nearby. In total, more than $166,000 was stolen in cash belonging to the armored car company.
Davis was eventually arrested and has been in federal custody since March 2023. He pleaded guilty to one count of interference with commerce by robbery and one count of discharging a firearm during a violent crime.
“Imagine the terror of being pulled to the ground with a gun pointed at your head,” said Krysti Hawkins, acting assistant director in charge of the FBI Field Office in L.A. “Davis and his accomplices violently ambushed an individual just doing his job so they could make off with other people’s money.”
Hawkins added that the “significant sentence” Davis received cannot make up for the “emotional and psychological damage inflicted on the victim,” but the FBI hopes it sends a clear message to those who commit violent crimes.
Also charged and identified as a member of the Chesapeake Bandits is the lead defendant in the case, 38-year-old Deneyvous Jayan Hobson. Both Davis and Hobson are from the West Adams neighborhood of Los Angeles and have been identified by multiple media outlets as half-brothers.
Hobson has pleaded not guilty to his charges and his trial is scheduled to begin on Sept. 3. He faces similar charges to Davis, with an additional charge for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
While the sentence handed down Friday relates only to the Hawthorne armed car robbery, the Chesapeake Bandits were also believed to be linked to several other armored vehicle robberies across Los Angeles County.
Authorities previously said there were additional members of the group, but the DOJ confirmed Friday that there are currently no other defendants facing federal charges.