{"id":69754,"date":"2025-11-25T21:56:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T21:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/69754\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T21:56:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T21:56:08","slug":"alleged-ghost-town-robbery-crew-shot-caller-sentenced-to-federal-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/69754\/","title":{"rendered":"Alleged Ghost Town robbery crew ‘shot caller’ sentenced to federal prison"},"content":{"rendered":"

OAKLAND \u2014 The federal government contends he\u2019s the \u201cshot caller\u201d of a notorious West Oakland gang<\/a>, while his friends and lawyer say he\u2019s just a guy from the area whose tattoos have been misconstrued as something more.<\/p>\n

Either way, 34-year-old Aramiya Burrell is off to federal prison for his role aiding what prosecutors have described as a prolific, high-rolling Bay Area robbery crew<\/a> that raked in close to $1 million. After pulling off several robberies targeting jewelry stores, coin collectors, and pot dispensaries, the group celebrated in style at Burrell\u2019s 32nd birthday party, flashing stolen jewelry in a video that prosecutors later used to argue for multi-year prison terms, court records show.<\/p>\n

Burrell was sentenced to six years and 10 months at a Nov. 17 court hearing before U.S. District Judge Araceli Mart\u00ednez-Olgu\u00edn, records show. In advance of the hearing, his lawyer filed court papers describing Burrell as a lookout for robberies, nothing more, and slammed prosecutors for the \u201cinflammatory\u201d accusation that Burrell was a member of the West Oakland-based Ghost Town gang.<\/p>\n

\u201cAramiya is from the same community in Oakland that I\u2019m from called Ghost Town and everyone that lives there is not in a gang,\u201d Senior Pastor Billy Dixon of At Thy Word Christian Ministries wrote in a support letter praising Burrell for his work in anti-violence programs. \u201cWith Aramiyas\u2019 help and influence many retaliatory shootings have been prevented.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo that Burrell was identified as a Ghost Town gang leader by the FBI in a 2018 investigation and that he self-identified as one when he was being booked in the jail. They said he was involved in every aspect of the robbery spree, from planning and actual participation to working to sell stolen jewelry afterwards.<\/p>\n

The group used guns, threats, and violence to \u201cto terrorize small businesses,\u201d prosecutors added.<\/p>\n

The robberies included a March 2022 incident where a coin store owner in San Francisco lost an estimated $300,000, a November 2022 stickup that cost a San Pablo jeweler estimated losses of up to $500,000. There was also an August 2022 robbery, targeting an Oakland cannabis dispensary, with a business loss estimated at $100,000.<\/p>\n

In December 2022, many of the robbers threw Burrell a surprise party. Video of the event, filed in court by prosecutors, shows Burrell being greeted as he walks through the threshold with friends. The video pans across a buffet dinner, to\u00a0a woman dressed in a silky black dress twerking for the camera, as \u201cA Million Cash Race\u201d by Detroit rapper Babyface Ray plays.<\/p>\n

Later, one of Burrell\u2019s co-defendants, Jakari Jenkins, shows up on camera, wearing a diamond necklace referencing a slain Ghost Town member, eight bejeweled rings and donning a golden watch on his right hand as he and another man fan out huge swaths of $100 bills for the camera. The other man, donning a golden watch and a chain depicting an assault rifle, says they were making history.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey ain\u2019t never seen Ghost Town\u00a0like this,\u201d he says as Jenkins nods in approval. \u201cWe the richest generation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burrell\u2019s lawyer said a tattoo on his client\u2019s arm that has the word\u2019s \u201cGhost Town\u201d was misconstrued by authorities as evidence of gang membership, when it was actually meant to memorialize six different childhood friends of Burrell who were shot and killed in Oakland. His numerous support letters include one from Burrell\u2019s daughter, who wrote that she understands prison is a surety but hoped Burrell\u2019s role in their family would warrant some leniency.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has taught me values like respect, honesty and responsibility,\u201d Burrell\u2019s daughter wrote. \u201cHe tells me never to follow the wrong path and to make better choices than he did. He has always wanted me to stay safe and on the right track.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OAKLAND \u2014 The federal government contends he\u2019s the \u201cshot caller\u201d of a notorious West Oakland gang, while his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":69755,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[861,862,15567,41189,143,863,145,864,144,41190,19728,865],"class_list":["post-69754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-bay-area-crime","tag-california-crime","tag-ghost-town-gang","tag-ghost-town-oakland","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-crime","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-murder","tag-oakland-news","tag-oakland-robberies","tag-oakland-robbery-crew","tag-oakland-shooting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69754","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=69754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}