Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Columbus man was sentenced in federal court today to 171 months in prison for committing six robberies in Columbus in September and October 2020.

Ronald Lee Jacobs, 46, was convicted following a jury trial in August 2023 of six counts of robbery and one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.

At the time of the robberies, Jacobs was under supervision with the State of Ohio after serving a nine-year sentence for aggravated robbery with a firearm specification.

According to court documents and trial testimony in his current case, Jacobs committed at least six recent robberies, including:

• Hampton Inn on South Hamilton Road on Sept. 5, 2020,
• Wing Snob on North High Street on Sept. 12, 2020,
• United Dairy Farmers on North High Street on Sept. 24, 2020,
• Shell Gas Station on South Hamilton Road on Sept. 30, 2020,
• Wing Snob on North High Street on Oct. 8, 2020, and
• Walgreens on East Livingston Avenue on Oct. 12, 2020. 

During the robberies, Jacobs typically wore either an inside-out gray sweatshirt or a dark sweatshirt, dark pants and used a blue bandana. Jacobs was employed at a glue factory and, during multiple robberies, had visible glue splatters on his clothing. He called off work for one robbery and left during his shift to commit another one of the robberies.

In jail calls, Jacobs discussed the firearms he used and said he committed the robberies because he was “broke” and needed to pay child support.

“There’s no excuse for committing dangerous crimes,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker. “There are numerous resources available to assist individuals who are returning to our communities from periods of incarceration. In this case, we are grateful that no one was seriously harmed or killed by Jacobs’s actions and his sentence reflects the fact that bad choices often have serious consequences.”

Jacobs was charged by criminal complaint and arrested in November 2020. In March 2021, a federal grand jury returned an indictment against Jacobs and that indictment was superseded in September 2021.

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Daryl S. McCormick, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); and Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant announced the sentence imposed today by Chief U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley. Assistant United States Attorneys Elizabeth A. Geraghty and S. Courter Shimeall are representing the United States in this case.

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