Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

DAYTON – Kavonte Knolton, 21, pleaded guilty to two crimes related to armed robbery today in federal court. Knolton will face at least seven years and up to life in prison for brandishing a firearm during a crime violence, and up to 20 years in prison for robbery. Any sentence imposed for brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence must be served consecutively to any other punishment.

Knolton and Jamaal Murphy, 19, were charged in June 2020 with working together to rob at gunpoint several businesses in the Dayton area.

Knolton and Murphy were arrested June 29 by Dayton Police and agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

As part of his plea, Knolton admitted he helped rob a UDF on Woodman Avenue on Valentine’s Day 2020. According to court documents, Knolton pointed an inoperable firearm at the store clerk while Murphy stole approximately $80 in cash and various tobacco products.

Knolton admitted he helped Murphy rob the Circle in Kettering, Ohio in February 2020 and the Wyoming Mini-Mart in Dayton during March 2020. He is scheduled for sentencing on Jan. 14, 2021.

Charges against Murphy remain pending.

David M. DeVillers, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Roland Herndon, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and Dayton Police Chief Rick Biehl announced the plea entered into today before Senior U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Rose. Assistant United States Attorney Brent G. Tabacchi and Deputy Criminal Chief Dominick S. Gerace are representing the United States in this case.

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