PHILADELPHIA - A federal jury returned guilty verdicts late yesterday against five defendants charged in a conspiracy to commit an armed home invasion robbery against another drug dealer in Philadelphia. Robert Lamar Whitfield, 33, Marlon Graham, 22, Kenneth Parnell, 27, Kareem Long, 23, and Frank Thompson, 35, all of Philadelphia, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, attempted Hobbs Act robbery, conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, attempted possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and a drug trafficking crime. The case was presided over by U.S. District Court Judge Juan R. Sanchez who has not yet scheduled sentencing hearings for the defendants. Four of the five face a 15 year mandatory minimum sentence, up to life in prison; defendant Frank Thompson faces a mandatory minimum of 25 years in prison.
Beginning in June 2012, the defendants put in motion a plan to steal, by force, cocaine and drug proceeds from the home of an individual they believed to be another drug dealer and attempted to carry out their plan on July 18, 2012. The plan was thwarted when agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Violent Crime Task Force moved in to arrest the armed defendants during preparations.
In addition to the prison term, each defendant also faces five years of supervised release, fines of up to $20 million, and a $500 special assessment.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Philadelphia Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys V. Paige Pratter and Jeanine Linehan.
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, EASTERN DISTRICTof PENNSYLVANIA
Suite 1250, 615 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
PATTY HARTMAN, Media Contact, 215-861-8525
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
