Worcester Man Sentenced to Over Eight Years in Prison for Role in Rockland Robbery Conspiracy

BOSTON – A Worcester man was sentenced today for his role in an attempted robbery of a Rockland-based glassware dealer.

Keith Johnson, a/k/a “Eike,” 41, of Worcester, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman to 98 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. In November 2022, Johnson pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to interfere with interstate commerce by robbery, commonly referred to as Hobbs Act robbery.  Johnson was indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2019 along with co-defendants Shaun Walker, Junior Melendez and Grace Katana.

In March 2019, Johnson, Walker, Katana and Melendez conspired to rob the home of a high-end glassware dealer in Rockland. Between March 18, 2019 through March 25, 2019, court authorized intercepted communications over a cellphone used by Melendez revealed that Johnson and his co-conspirators were planning an armed home invasion and robbery of the Rockland residence.

During the afternoon of March 25, 2019, the four men traveled over 60 miles from Worcester to Rockland in two vehicles. Katana and Melendez first scoped out the robbery target location, a residence which at that time was occupied by a female resident. Katana and Melendez then proceeded to a nearby hardware store and purchased a two-foot iron crowbar, a screwdriver and razor blades. Law enforcement arrested the four men in the parking lot of the hardware store – disrupting the attempted robbery. In addition to the items just purchased at the hardware store, a loaded .380 firearm was seized from the glove compartment of the vehicle occupied by Johnson.   

In June 2022, Katana was convicted by a federal jury of Hobbs Act robbery and was sentenced in October 2022 to 64 months in prison and three years of supervised release. In May 2022, Walker pleaded guilty to one count of Hobbs Act robbery and, in November 2022, was sentenced to 36 months in prison and three years of supervised release. On March 13, 2023, Melendez was sentenced to 156 months in prison and three years of supervised release after previously pleading guilty to his role in the conspiracy.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; James M. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; John E. Mawn, Jr. Interim Colonel of the Massachusetts State Police; Worcester Police Chief Steven M. Sargent; and Rockland Police Chief John R. Llewellyn made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Greg A. Friedholm and Kristen M. Noto of Levy’s Worcester Branch Office prosecuted the case.