DeKalb County

2 men involved in violent robberies at cell phone stores sentenced to federal prison

Quentin Truley (DeKalb County Sheriff's Office)

BROOKHAVEN, Ga. — Two men involved in a series of violent robberies at cell phone stores in metro Atlanta have been sentenced to federal prison.

U.S. Attorney Kurt Erskine said Dontavious Matthews, 31 and Quentin Truley, 27 showed no regard for human life when they held customers and employees at gunpoint during an armed robbery in Brookhaven in 2017.

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Erskine said Truley and Matthews entered the store, pointed guns at employees and ordered everyone to the ground. Matthews then forced the store manager to go into a back room and open the safe. Truley held employees and customers at gunpoint while Matthews took cell phones from the safe. The men then ran from the scene.

The robbery was captured on surveillance cameras and the men left their fingerprints in the store.

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Eleven days later, Truley and an unknown accomplice conducted a similar robbery at a cell phone store in Lithonia, prosecutors said. The store manager had placed a tracker phone with the other stolen phones and police used it to find Truley, who was found hiding in the bushes at a nearby apartment complex.

“Violent conduct like the armed robberies in this case will not be tolerated in our community,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “The FBI is proud to work with our local law enforcement partners in helping to convict these offenders at the federal level, where they face stiffer penalties and no opportunity for parole.”

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Matthews has been sentenced to nine years and four months in prison, followed by three years of supervised released. He’s been order to pay restitution in the amount of $19,321.

Truley has been sentenced to 19 years and three months in prison followed by five years of supervised release. He’s been ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $40,400.91.

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