Sandra J. Hairston United States Attorney | U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of North Carolina
A Forsyth County man has been sentenced to 22 years in prison after pleading guilty to a series of armed robberies in multiple counties in North Carolina, as per the announcement by Acting United States Attorney Randall S. Galyon. The robberies involved locations in Forsyth, Guilford, Alamance, and Rockingham Counties.
Byron Clay Scott, aged 33, received a 240-month sentence for these crimes, followed by three years of post-release supervision, as decided by United States District Judge Thomas D. Schroeder. Additionally, Scott faces 24 more months in prison consecutive to his initial sentence for committing these robberies while on post-release supervision from a prior armed robbery conviction in Forsyth County dating back to 2013. Scott was also ordered to pay restitution amounting to $21,005.38 and to forfeit a 9mm handgun.
Court records indicate Scott, along with unidentified accomplices, committed at least ten armed robberies targeting Dollar General and Family Dollar Stores between November 2023 and January 2024. The crimes took place in Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Burlington, and Reidsville. Surveillance footage captured the perpetrators wearing Halloween-style masks, gloves, and dark attire. All episodes, barring one, occurred near closing time. Scott was apprehended on January 15, 2024, by the Winston-Salem Police Department after a reported robbery in progress. Upon searching the vehicle Scott was driving, law enforcement recovered his birth certificate, Social Security card, and gloves and masks resembling those used in the heists. Electronic tracking data and Scott's phone search history further implicated him in the robberies.
On January 6, 2025, Scott pleaded guilty to five counts of interference with commerce by robbery under 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a).
The investigation was a joint effort by the Winston-Salem Police Department, Forsyth County Sheriff's Office, Greensboro Police Department, Burlington Police Department, Rockingham County Sheriff's Office, and the FBI's Piedmont Safe Streets Task Force, with prosecution led by Assistant United States Attorney Tracy M. Williams-Durham.
The FBI's Safe Streets Violent Crime Initiative, in place since 1992, aims to reduce violent crime through strategic collaboration among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. The initiative focuses on addressing activities related to street gangs and drug-related violence, facilitating coordinated investigations to secure prosecutions on charges like racketeering, drug conspiracies, and firearms offenses.
