2 Decatur Armed Robbers Sentenced To Federal Prison

DEKALB COUNTY, GA — Two Decatur men have been sentenced for committing an armed robbery of a cell phone store in Brookhaven, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia.

One was also sentenced for committing an armed robbery of a cell phone store in Lithonia 11 days later.

On December 17, 2017, Dontavious Matthews, 31, and Quentin Truley, 27, entered a Brookhaven cell phone store. A few minutes later, Truley pointed a gun at store employees while Matthews ordered everyone to the ground. Matthews then forced the store manager to go to the back room and open the safe. Truley held the employees and customers at gunpoint while Matthews emptied the safe of cell phones, and both defendants fled the scene. The robbery was captured on surveillance cameras and Truley and Matthews left their fingerprints at the store.

On December 28, 2017, Truley and an unknown accomplice entered a cellular phone store in Lithonia, brandished firearms, and ordered employees and customers to the ground, according to a news release. Truley then forced an employee to the back of the store to obtain cell phones from the safe.

The store manager placed a tracker phone with the other stolen phones, which later led police to Truley hiding in some bushes at a nearby apartment complex.

Matthews has been sentenced to nine years, four months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $19,321. Matthews was found guilty by a jury of one count of Hobbs Act armed robbery on Aug. 27, 2021.

Truley was sentenced to 19 years and three months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $40,400.91. He pled guilty on Aug. 3, 2021, to two counts of Hobbs Act armed robbery and two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.

“These defendants showed no regard for the lives of the customers and employees they held at gunpoint while committing these armed robberies,” said U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine in a news release. “Due to the strong partnership of federal and local agencies through the Project Safe Neighborhood Program, these defendants were convicted of these violent crimes and will now serve significant sentences in federal prison.”

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with valuable assistance provided by the City of Brookhaven Police Department and the DeKalb County Police Department.