Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – September 13, 2018 – Dominique Cordell Wallace, aka Deuce Face, 24, of Nashville, Tennessee, was sentenced yesterday to 30 years in federal prison, for Hobbs Act robbery and firearms violations, announced U.S. Attorney Don Cochran of the Middle District of Tennessee.  There is no parole in the federal criminal justice system.

“I am grateful that the victim survived this horrific, violent crime and was able to be heard at the sentencing hearing,” said U.S. Attorney Cochran.  “I commend our law enforcement partners for their investigative expertise and our prosecutors for structuring an outcome that will ensure Dominique Wallace has many, many years to ponder the consequences of his actions.  We will continue to deal with violent criminals swiftly and with the certainty that they will be held accountable.”            

According to court records, on June 3, 2015, Wallace, Demontay Thomas, Robert Brooks, and Michael Bright, all of Nashville, planned and agreed to rob the Express Market located on Antioch Pike in Nashville.  Bright served as the driver, while Wallace, Thomas and Brooks entered the store as it was closing, armed with handguns.    During the robbery, Wallace grabbed the store clerk by the neck with one hand while waiving a pistol in his other hand and forced the clerk toward the cash register.  Thomas crawled under the counter to the register area, while Brooks went over the counter and fired his pistol.  The bullet struck and killed Demontay Thomas. Wallace then shot the store clerk in the head and fled the scene with Brooks, leaving Thomas dead at the store and the clerk severely wounded. 

The store clerk was later transported to a local hospital where he underwent life-saving surgeries.  He testified at the sentencing hearing that he sustained permanent, severe injuries; will have to undergo additional surgeries and will eventually lose his eyesight. 

Less than one month before this incident, Wallace had been placed on probation for 10 years, following a guilty plea in Davidson County, Tennessee, to attempted second-degree murder, as a result of an incident in which he and another person shot an individual multiple times while attempting to rob him at the Cumberland View public housing development in Nashville. 

At sentencing, United States District Judge Aleta Trauger remarked that this was a “horrendous” crime which ruined the victim’s life, and that this was one of the worst violent crime cases she had seen.  

Michael Bright previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 276 months in prison.  Robert Brooks also pleaded guilty and will be sentenced on November 1, 2018.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Philip H. Wehby and Sunny A.M. Koshy.

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