Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Tampa, FL – U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven yesterday sentenced Demetrius Renaldo Bowers (29, Tampa) to 193 years in federal prison for a string of eight armed robberies that he committed between September and November 2012 throughout the Tampa Bay area.

On June 26, 2013, a federal jury found Bowers guilty of sixteen robbery and firearms offenses.

According to evidence presented at trial, between September 23, 2012 and November 4, 2012, while armed with a black semi-automatic handgun, Bowers robbed eight fast-food franchise restaurants in Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Hernando counties near the time the restaurants were closing. In each robbery, Bowers used a concrete block to smash the window of the victim business, wore a black ski mask covering his face, and held the victim-employees at gunpoint while demanding money. After the robbery of a Papa John's restaurant off of Gunn Highway in Tampa, law enforcement recovered the ski mask worn by the robber. DNA recovered from the ski mask positively matched Bowers. Law enforcement then obtained other evidence which identified him as the perpetrator of the other armed robberies.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, the Tampa Police Department, the Largo Police Department, and the Hernando County Sheriff's Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Josephine W. Thomas and Carlton C. Gammons.

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