Las Vegas, Nev. – The last of three defendants who robbed six Las Vegas-area convenience stores during November and December 2010, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.

Jose Figueroa, 30, of Las Vegas, was sentenced on Aug. 27, 2012, by Senior U.S. District Judge Roger L. Hunt. Figueroa pleaded guilty on April 27, 2012, to one count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, six counts of interference with commerce by robbery, and one count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.

Figueroa and co-defendant, Raymond Juarez, 23, of Las Vegas, robbed five 7-11 stores and one Green Valley Grocery store between Nov. 28 and Dec. 18, 2010. Another co-defendant, Chase Sitton, 23, of Las Vegas, acted as a get-away driver in two of the robberies. In each robbery, Figueroa threatened the store clerk with a semi-automatic handgun and then either grabbed cash from the register or demanded it from the clerk, while Juarez stood at the door serving as a lookout. In one of the robberies Figueroa shot and injured the clerk in the abdomen.

Juarez and Sitton also pleaded guilty to robbery and firearm charges and were sentenced to 19 years and seven years, respectively.

"This successful prosecution was part of our expanded Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program which focuses on serial robberies and other armed robbery offenses," said U.S. Attorney Bogden. "Congress has created stiff mandatory sentences for use of a firearm in a violent crime, and this office will actively use these tools to get defendants using guns off our streets for long terms of imprisonment."

The investigation was conducted by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and FBI, as part of the Safe Streets Task Force and PSN program. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Cristina D. Silva.

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