Walmart Armed Robber Gets 32-Year Prison Sentence

ROSWELL, GA -- An Atlanta man has sentenced to more than three decades in prison for committing armed robberies of several Walmart stores across metro Atlanta. Deanthony Foster, 28, will serve 32 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release. He has also been ordered to pay $24,791 in restitution and a special assessment of $200. He was convicted on the charges after pleading guilty on Aug. 11, 2017.

Foster carried out robberies at several businesses around Atlanta, including Walmart and Citgo stores, said the United States Attorney Office for the Northern District of Georgia. In all robberies, Foster brandished a firearm and pointed the weapon at employees. He actually fired one round into the floor at an area Walmart during an armed robbery while demanding money, the office said. He was able to coordinate his crimes with other individuals who served as lookouts by cell phone.

“Foster cared nothing for people or their safety while he sought to enrich himself at the end of a gun,” said U. S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “He seriously injured one individual and terrorized many others, including employees and members of the public by displaying a firearm and, in one instance, discharging a firearm. His sentence is lengthy and reflective of the seriousness of his crime.”

From May 15, 2015 to Oct. 25, 2015, Foster and others carried out a series of armed robberies before they were identified by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies. Six of the incidents targeted Walmart stores, including the Aug. 11, 2015, armed robbery of Walmart on Mansell Road in Roswell.

Prosecutors said the defendants researched the locations of the stores in Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett and Cobb counties and conducted surveillance before and during the robberies. They communicated by cell phone before and after each robbery, always with one or two participants acting as getaway drivers waiting in the parking lot. The lookouts were captured on in-store surveillance video while talking on their cell phones and casing the stores.

In each robbery, Foster, also captured on camera, entered the stores wearing a surgical mask, with a gun in his hand and demanded money from employees while they were emptying cash registers. In the last robbery during the spree, Foster discharged his gun into the floor near the employees when they did not immediately meet his demands for money.

After the indictment, law enforcement agents found that the defendant had participated in another commercial robbery in Cobb County where he shot an employee in the leg when the victim struggled with him.

"Mr. Foster was responsible for a violent crime spree where others were seriously hurt," said David J. LeValley, special agent in charge at the FBI Atlanta Field Office. "As a result of much hard work by many law enforcement agencies working together with federal prosecutors, this sentencing in federal court to a lengthy prison sentence will not only hold him accountable but will make our community a safer place for all."

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Cobb County, DeKalb County, Gwinnett County, Hapeville, Roswell, Riverdale and Dunwoody police departments and the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katherine M. Hoffer and Jessica C. Morris prosecuted the case.

Photo: surveillance footage of the suspect in the 2015 armed robbery spree across metro Atlanta. Credit: FBI Atlanta Field Office