Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

MIAMI – On Jan. 24, Wayne Tarpley, 30, of Miami, pleaded guilty for his involvement in a series of armed robberies targeting retail shoppers.

Tarpley’s co-defendants, Tyreke Lafane Jackson, 23, and Da’Vontae Bobby McCrae, 23, both of Miami, previously pleaded guilty. Tarpley, Jackson and McCrae pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

According to the agreed upon factual proffers, on Aug. 19, 2022, McCrae and Tarpley discussed going “Downtown [to] lurk the jewelers [and] see who walk in with a big bag obvious money … and follow [them] or if it’s sweet get em where they stand.” Later that day, Jackson crashed a car into a vehicle leaving the Design District. McCrae and Tarpley got out of the car and robbed the victims, at gunpoint, of a watch they had just purchased. Tarpley and McCrae also admitted their involvement in a Sept. 13, 2022, robbery where they chased, tackled, pistol whipped and robbed a victim who was walking to an event.

Tarpley is scheduled to be sentenced on April. 23. Jackson and McCrae are scheduled to be sentenced on March 25 and Feb. 23, respectively, before U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams. The defendants face up to life in prison.

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Chief of Police Manuel A. Morales of the Miami Police Department (MPD) and Special Agent in Charge Christopher A. Robinson of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Division, announced the guilty pleas.

MPD and ATF Miami Field Division investigated the case with assistance from the Miami-Dade Police Department.

Lapointe thanked the State Attorney’s Office for their assistance. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Arielle Klepach and Hayden P. O’Byrne are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney G. Raemy Charest-Turken is handling asset forfeiture.

This case stems from Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that brings together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. In 2017, PSN was reinvigorated as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement, and the community, to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime.

Anyone with information related to possible gun crimes is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.

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