Shawn Marshall Owens, a 44-year-old resident of the District of Columbia, has been sentenced to 67 months in federal prison for committing six armed robberies at Metro by T-Mobile stores during 2023. The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Owens pleaded guilty on July 1, 2024, to six counts of interference with interstate commerce by robbery under the Hobbs Act. In addition to his prison sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Timothy J. Kelly ordered that Owens serve three years of supervised release following his incarceration.
Court documents show that Owens began his series of robberies on July 14, 2023, when he entered a Metro by T-Mobile store on East Capitol Street NE around 6:25 p.m., pointed a black handgun at an employee, and demanded cash and cell phones before fleeing with approximately $500 and three phones.
On July 29, 2023, Owens returned to the same store and confronted the same employee he had robbed two weeks earlier. “Don’t play games…you know what to do,” Owens said to the employee before handing over a backpack and ordering him to empty the register into it. He left with several more phones.
The pattern continued on September 2 at another Metro by T-Mobile location on North Capitol Street NW. Owens displayed a silver and black handgun and demanded Apple iPhones; when told there were none in stock, he took $446 from the register along with four phones.
Owens returned to this location again on September 13, demanding keys to the safe as well as an employee’s personal belongings. The employee explained that safe keys were no longer kept onsite due to previous robberies. Owens then took $250 from the register and several new phones.
On October 1, at a store on Mount Pleasant Street NW, Owens pulled a handgun on an employee and demanded money and iPhones before taking $1,000 in cash along with other electronics after ordering the employee to face away from him.
The final robbery occurred December 10 at a Georgia Avenue NW location where two employees were present. After threatening them with a handgun, Owens stole a box containing phones valued at $3,169 as well as cash. Police arrested him shortly afterward while he was still in possession of both items.
Investigators determined that each targeted store bought and sold goods across state lines; thus each incident disrupted or affected interstate commerce. Although armed during each robbery, it was later revealed that Owens used an Airsoft replica gun resembling a real firearm.
Assistant Director Darren B. Cox of the FBI Washington Field Office and Interim Chief Jeffery Carroll of the Metropolitan Police Department joined U.S. Attorney Pirro in announcing these developments.
The case was investigated jointly by MPD and FBI Washington Field Office personnel. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared English prosecuted the case with support from former Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Haley M. Pennington and Alexander Schneider.
