A 38-year-old man from South Los Angeles, a member of a notorious robbery crew dubbed the “Chesapeake Bandits” by federal law enforcement, is facing life in prison after his conviction for a Valentine’s Day armored truck robbery nearly three years ago in Hawthorne, officials announced Tuesday.
Deneyvous Hobson, who has been in federal custody since Feb. 2023, was convicted by a jury in L.A. of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.
According to evidence presented at trial, Hobson and co-defendant James Russell Davis, 36, both residents of West Adams, cased a Wescom Credit Union three weeks prior to the robbery Feb. 14, 2022, heist.
At that time, the duo observed a Sectran Security Services armored truck driver servicing an ATM.
Returning on Valentine’s Day at the same time and in separate vehicles, Davis acted as a lookout and performed countersurveillance nearby while Hobson and two other co-conspirators ambushed the Sectran driver, taking his service weapon and ordering him to the ground at gunpoint.
“Hobson and two co-conspirators stole approximately $166,640 in cash and checks from the Wescom Credit Union’s ATM,” the release detailed. “As Hobson and two accomplices returned to their car, one of the co-conspirators fired the 9mm semi-automatic handgun he was carrying. They then fled the scene.”
Court documents also show that the following day, Hobson attempted to sell the 9mm handgun used during the robbery for $800, stating over a text message that the gun was “not all the way bad, it was just shot doing a get down.”
Davis, Hobson’s half-brother according to reporting by the L.A. Times, pleaded guilty in the case on Feb. 16 and was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $166,640 in restitution to Sectran Security Services.
A sentence hearing for Hobson is scheduled for April 18, 2025. He faces a maximum sentence of life in federal prison.
“Our community will not accent violent gun crime and armed and violent felons will be held accountable,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. “I commend our prosecutors and our federal and local law enforcement partners for bringing this defendant to justice. With Operation Safe Cities, we will remain vigilant in protecting the public from gun violence.”
A 38-year-old man from South Los Angeles, a member of a notorious robbery crew dubbed the “Chesapeake Bandits” by federal law enforcement, is facing life in prison after his conviction for a Valentine’s Day armored truck robbery nearly three years ago in Hawthorne, officials announced Tuesday. Deneyvous Hobson, who has been in federal custody […]
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