{"id":172857,"date":"2026-02-11T03:08:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T03:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/172857\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T03:08:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T03:08:09","slug":"nine-oakland-based-ghost-town-gang-members-sentenced-for-2022-armed-robberies-of-bay-area-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/172857\/","title":{"rendered":"Nine Oakland-based \u201cGhost Town\u201d gang members sentenced for 2022 armed robberies of Bay Area businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Including stealing bags of jewelry valued at\u00a0$300K to $500K from San Pablo jewelry store
\nWill serve combined 60 years in prison
\nOne suspect arrested 30 times since 2013<\/p>\n

By U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office Northern District of California<\/p>\n

OAKLAND \u2013 Nine associates of the Oakland-based \u201cGhost Town\u201d gang have been sentenced to a combined total of nearly 60 years in prison for a series of armed robberies targeting small Bay Area businesses.\u00a0 The sentences were handed down by\u00a0U.S. District Judge Araceli Mart\u00ednez-Olgu\u00edn, with the final defendant sentenced today.<\/p>\n

The nine defendants, Demarco Barnett, 36 of Oakland; Jakari Jenkins, 34 of Stockton; Danny Garcia, 41; Garland Devonte Rabon, 30 of Mountain House; Aramiya Burrell, 35 of Oakland; Lester Andre Garnett, 34 of Tracy; Darrin Andre Hutchinson, 39 of Cherryland, CA, located between San Leandro and Hayward; Ricky Joseph, 37 of Oakland; and Keanna Alloise Smith-Stewart, 33 of West Sacramento, each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit robbery affecting interstate commerce.\u00a0 Based on their involvement, eight of the defendants also pleaded guilty to a varying number of substantive counts of robbery affecting interstate commerce.<\/p>\n

The robberies took place in 2022.\u00a0 On March 18, 2022, the co-conspirators engaged in the armed robbery of a coin and stamp store located on the tenth floor of a building in the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco.\u00a0 The co-conspirators entered the store, brandished firearms, and demanded money from the business and the two individuals who happened to be present at the time \u2013 the owner and his son. The robbers struck the head and zip-tied the hands of the owner\u2019s son, and absconded with cash, jewelry, and coins.\u00a0 Defendants Jenkins, Barnett, and Joseph were charged with and pleaded guilty to this robbery count.<\/p>\n

The co-conspirators then struck a San Pablo jewelry store on Nov. 12, 2022.\u00a0 Five co-conspirators, at least three of whom were brandishing firearms, entered the store and pretended to be customers, while two others waited outside in the getaway cars.\u00a0 The co-conspirators stole bags of jewelry valued at approximately $300,000 to $500,000.<\/p>\n

As previously reported<\/a>, the pretend customers left jewelry with the operators of the store. According to the indictment, Jenkins, Barnett, and Rabon arrived at the jewelry store with at least four other co-conspirators and robbed the store of jewelry, including the jewelry that members of the gang previously had left with the store. The robbers arrived in two getaway cars\u2014both Dodge Chargers bearing stolen license plates. Five co-conspirators, at least three of whom were brandishing firearms, entered the store while two of the co-conspirators waited outside in the getaway cars. The co-conspirators stole bags of jewelry valued at approximately $300,000 to $500,000. The indictment describes how all four defendants in the superseding indictment later wore the stolen jewelry, shared the stolen jewelry with other members of Ghost Town gang members, or otherwise made use of the stolen jewelry for their personal purposes.<\/p>\n

Defendants Jenkins, Barnett, Rabon, Garcia and Hutchinson were charged with and pleaded guilty to this robbery count.<\/p>\n

A third robbery occurred on Dec. 24, 2022, of a marijuana business in Oakland.\u00a0 The co-conspirators arrived at the business as an employee was leaving it.\u00a0 The robbers brandished weapons, directed the employee back into the building at gunpoint, demanding \u201cbudded weed\u201d and \u201cmoney.\u201d\u00a0 One of the robbers struck the employee in the head with a firearm.\u00a0 The robbers searched through the employee\u2019s pockets and stole his bank debit card.\u00a0 The robbers absconded with the victim\u2019s debit card and a bag of marijuana plant trimmings.\u00a0 Defendants Jenkins, Barnett, Rabon, Burrell, Garnett, and Garcia were charged with and pleaded guilty to this robbery count.<\/p>\n

United States Attorney Craig H. Missakian and FBI Special Agent in Charge Sanjay Virmani made the announcement.<\/p>\n

The following chart summarizes the number of counts each defendant pleaded guilty to and the sentence each defendant received:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Defendant
\nNumber of Counts in Guilty Plea
\nSentence (months)<\/p>\n

Demarco Barnett
\nConspiracy + 3 substantive robberies
\n114<\/p>\n

Jakari Jenkins
\nConspiracy + 3 substantive robberies
\n96<\/p>\n

Danny Garcia
\nConspiracy + 2 substantive robberies
\n84<\/p>\n

Garland Rabon
\nConspiracy + 2 substantive robberies
\n75<\/p>\n

Aramiya Burrell
\nConspiracy + 1 substantive robbery
\n82<\/p>\n

Lester Garnett
\nConspiracy + 1 substantive robbery
\n70<\/p>\n

Darrin Hutchinson
\nConspiracy + 1 substantive robbery
\n70<\/p>\n

Ricky Joseph
\nConspiracy + 1 substantive robbery
\n68<\/p>\n

Keanna Smith-Stewart
\nConspiracy
\n50<\/p>\n

Total
\n709<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition to the custodial time, the Court also ordered restitution in the amount of $150,338.00.<\/p>\n

The Violent Crime Strike Force is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Yenni Weinberg.\u00a0 The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the FBI and the Oakland Police Department.<\/p>\n

Previous Arrests of Suspects<\/p>\n

According to localcrimenews.com, the five-foot, 11-inch, 215-pound Demarco<\/a> is Black and has a history of nine arrests dating back to 2014 including five times for burglary and once for hit-and-run; the five-foot, five-inch tall, 180-pound Jenkins<\/a> is Black and has been arrested 30 times since 2013 including 14 times for burglary, plus, multiple times for domestic violence, drugs and gun charges; the six-foot tall, 190-pound Rabon<\/a> is Black and has a history of 11 arrests since 2016 including multiple times for burglary and petty theft, as well as gun charges; the five-foot, seven-inch tall, 195-pound Burrell<\/a> is Black and has been arrested nine times since 2014 including for carjacking, burglary and multiple gun and ammunition charges; the six-foot, one-inch tall, 190-pound Garnett<\/a> is Black and has been arrested six times since 2015 including multiple times for burglary as well as for DUI, gun and drug charges; the five-foot, 10-inch tall, 260-pound Hutchinson is Black and has been arrested three times including once for being an addict in possession of a firearm; Joseph<\/a> is Black and has three arrests including one for burglary; and the five-foot, five inch tall, 135-pound Smith-Stewart<\/a> is Black and has been arrested once on April 29, 2024, but no details were available. Information about Garcia was requested. Please check back later for any updates to this report.<\/p>\n

Further Information:<\/p>\n

Case No. 23-cr-00191-AMO<\/p>\n

Electronic court filings and further procedural and docket information are available at\u00a0https:\/\/ecf.cand.uscourts.gov\/cgi-bin\/login.pl<\/a>.\u00a0 Judges\u2019 calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court\u2019s website at\u00a0www.cand.uscourts.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Allen D. Payton contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Including stealing bags of jewelry valued at\u00a0$300K to $500K from San Pablo jewelry store Will serve combined 60…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":172858,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[143,145,144],"class_list":{"0":"post-172857","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oakland","8":"tag-oakland","9":"tag-oakland-headlines","10":"tag-oakland-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}