Leslie Woods, 22, Derek Marshall, 24, and Terrell McGee, 26, have pled guilty in the U.S. District Court to two armed robberies and shootings that occurred in Cahokia, Illinois in 2010, United States Attorney Donald S. Boyce announced today. Woods, Marshall and McGee were charged by a federal grand jury in 2015 with two counts of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery ("Hobbs Act robbery"), two counts of interference with commerce by robbery ("Hobbs Act robbery"), and two counts of use and carry of a firearm during a crime of violence for their involvement in the June 17, 2010 robbery and shooting that occurred at the Best Stop convenience store in Cahokia, Illinois and the July 8, 2010 robbery and shooting that occurred at D&D’s MiniMart, also located in Cahokia, Illinois.
Documents filed in the U.S. District Court establish that on June 17, 2010, Woods, Marshall, McGee and James Smith robbed the Best Stop convenience store partially masked and armed with a rifle and two handguns, one of which was a.40 caliber pistol that had been stolen during a burglary of a St. Louis gun store earlier in June. Woods, acting as the getaway driver, drove Marshall, McGee and Smith to the store in a silver Altima that had been stolen during a carjacking in South St. Louis the day before. Woods waited in the car while Marshall, McGee and Smith went into the store, ordered a customer to the ground, pointed a gun to the owner’s head and
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took over $11,000 from the cash register. As they fled the store, Marshall shot the customer laying on the floor with a.40 caliber pistol and then fired four shots toward a woman sitting in her car parked outside the business. The entire robbery was captured on the store video surveillance.
Five hours after the robbery, the stolen Altima was recovered in St. Louis County. Two fingerprints were recovered from the door of the gas tank, which were determined to be a match to Leslie Woods. Approximately a week and a half later, Marshall was found in possession of a.40 caliber handgun during a traffic stop in Brooklyn, Illinois. Testing by the Illinois State Police forensic lab revealed that the gun recovered from Marshall was a match to the.40 caliber fired cartridges recovered by a crime scene investigator from the shooting at Best Stop.
Three weeks later, on July 8, 2010, Woods, Marshall, McGee, Smith and Reshon Farmer robbed D&D’s Minimart partially masked and armed with two rifles and two handguns. Farmer drove Woods,Marshall,McGee and Smith to the store in a white minivan they had stolen in North St. Louis earlier that day. Farmer waited in the van while Woods, Marshall, McGee and Smith went into the store and pointed their guns at the two employees behind the counter. Woods, Marshall and Smith went behind the counter and demanded the money from the register. While the male clerk was trying to open the register, Woods continually pushed the barrel of the rifle against his back until he grabbed the barrel and turned around. At that time, Woods shot the clerk with the rifle, causing him to fall on top of the female clerk who was lying on the ground. Woods then fired two more shots at the male clerk, resulting in severe injuries to his arm, hand and chest. They took the cash register and a.40 caliber handgun that belonged to the store owner. The entire robbery was captured on the store video surveillance.
Several police officers from North St. Louis who knew Woods, Marshall, Smith and Farmer viewed the video surveillance of D&D’s MiniMart robbery and identified Marshall, Woods and Smith as three of the gunmen. They also identified Farmer as the getaway driver. During an
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interview with law enforcement officers, Smith and Farmer confessed to their involvement in the D&D’s MiniMart robbery and identified Marshall, Woods and McGee as the three other gunmen.
In 2015, McGee was arrested and interviewed about his involvement in the two robberies. McGee admitted that he was one of the three gunmen in the Best Stop robbery. He also admitted that he was one of the four gunmen in the D&D’s MiniMart robbery.
Woods, Marshall and McGee all face a term of up to 20 years in prison on each violation of the Hobbs Act. They also face a minimum term in prison of 10 years up to a maximum of life for the conviction on carry and use of a firearm during a crime of violence for the armed robbery of the Best Stop, which must be served consecutive to, meaning in addition to, any term of imprisonment imposed on the Hobbs Act violations. Additionally, for their conviction for a second offense of carry and use of a firearm during a crime of violence for the armed robbery of D&D’s MiniMart, all three men face a minimum term in prison of 25 years up to a maximum of life, consecutive to the term of imprisonment imposed on the other five counts of conviction. In addition to the term of imprisonment imposed, Woods, Marshall and McGee can be fined up to $250,000 on each count and sentenced to a term of supervised release of up to five years. Smith and Farmer were prosecuted for these offenses by the St. Clair County State’s Attorney’s Office. Smith is awaiting sentencing.
The case was investigated by the Cahokia Police Department, the St. Louis County Police Department, the Illinois State Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Ali Summers, Dan Kapsak and James Piper, Jr.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
