DC Man Gets 10-Year Term For Armed Robberies Of 7-Eleven, Subway

WASHINGTON, DC — A D.C. man was sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison on Friday for armed robberies of a 7-Eleven and Subway sandwich shop in the District of Columbia in November 2019, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Ashanti West, 27, of D.C., pleaded guilty in March in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to charges of robbery and using, carrying, possessing and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. Following his prison term, West will be placed on five years of supervised release.

West is one of three defendants, all from D.C., who pleaded guilty to federal charges in the robberies. One co-defendant, Andre Thomas Jr., 27, was earlier sentenced to 112 months in prison, and another, Jaron Willis, 21, was sentenced to 42 months in prison and an additional six months of home incarceration.

According to the government’s evidence, on Nov. 5, 2019, at about 11:35 p.m., West and Thomas entered a 7-Eleven in the 4400 block of Benning Road NE, unmasked and scoping out the store. Then, roughly 90 minutes later, at 1:16 a.m. on Nov. 6, 2019, West, Thomas and Willis entered the store, all wearing masks, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

Once the only store patron completed her transaction, West retrieved a pistol from his coat pocket and brandished it in the face of a 7-Eleven employee, demanding that the cash register be opened. Willis then hopped over the counter and began to steal cartons of cigarettes.

At that point, a second store employee, who had been stocking shelves, realized what was happening and started to move swiftly toward the exit. Thomas grabbed the employee by the neck and squeezed until the victim lost consciousness. The defendants fled after stealing cash and multiple cartons of cigarettes, the U.S. attorney's office said.

The second robbery took place at about 2:50 a.m. on Nov. 6. All three defendants, again wearing masks, entered a Subway sandwich shop in the 4500 block of Benning Road SE. At the time of this robbery, the door to the left of the register was propped open as the store was actively receiving a delivery.

West pulled out a gun, pointed it at a store employee before he headed to the back of the restaurant. When West reached the back of the store, he encountered another employee, who was stocking the freezer with the new deliveries. West forced this victim at gunpoint to lie down on the floor on his stomach, in the entryway to the freezer.

Meanwhile, Willis physically pulled and pushed the other employee to the register. Once that employee opened the register, Willis and Thomas told him to hide in the bathroom. The three men took cash, including the entire cash till, and beverages and fled, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

The three men were arrested soon after the robberies by the Metropolitan Police Department and have been in custody ever since.