Guilty Pleas Entered In Inver Grove Heights Cell Phone Store Robbery

United States Attorney Erica H. MacDonald today announced the guilty plea of JAMAAL MARQUIE MAYS, 33, for the armed robbery of an Inver Grove Heights business. MAYS and his co-defendant, JAQUON KESHAWN MOMAN, 26, were charged in a superseding indictment on February 7, 2018. MAYS entered his guilty plea today before Chief Judge John R. Tunheim in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, Minnesota. MOMAN pleaded guilty on August 1, 2018.

According to the defendant’s guilty plea and documents filed in court, on August 17, 2017, MAYS and MOMAN entered a Verizon Wireless store in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, armed with a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol. After waiting for customers to leave the store, MAYS and MOMAN held the store employee at gunpoint while demanding money and cell phones. The employee pretended to comply, but then shot MAYS in self-defense with a firearm the employee was licensed to carry. MAYS’ firearm was also discharged. During the exchange of gunfire, a stray bullet grazed a worker in an adjacent restaurant. MAYS was wounded and remained at the scene, while MOMAN fled on foot. 

The Hobbs Act, passed by Congress in 1946, allows federal prosecutors to prosecute individuals who commit armed robberies of businesses engaged in interstate commerce.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Inver Grove Heights Police Department. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), an initiative that brings together federal, state and local law enforcement to combat violent crime.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David P. Steinkamp is prosecuting the case.

Defendant Information:

JAMAAL MARQUIE MAYS, 33

Unknown

Convicted:

• Hobbs Act robbery, 1 count
• Discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, 1 count

JAQUON KESHAWN MOMAN, 26

Unknown

Convicted:

• Hobbs Act robbery, 1 count
• Discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, 1 count

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United States Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota: (612) 664-5600