Violent Felon Sentenced to 25 Years in Federal Prison After Committing Six Armed Robberies in Six Weeks, Including Three of the Same Convenience Store
INDIANAPOLIS– Devonte Bailey, 24, of Indianapolis, was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to robbery, brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
According to court documents, on October 6, 2018, Bailey approached four men standing inside a residential garage in Indianapolis, asked for directions, and then left the area. Bailey returned a few minutes later, brandished a semiautomatic pistol, and demanded the keys to the victims’ vehicle and their cellular telephones. Bailey fled the scene in the stolen vehicle.
The next day an officer with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) received a report of shots fired and responded to the area. When the officer arrived in the vicinity of where the shots were reported, he saw Bailey sitting in the driver’s seat of the stolen vehicle. As the officer approached Bailey, he drove away at a high rate of speed. The officer initiated a vehicle pursuit, which ended at an apartment building. Bailey exited the vehicle, entered an apartment, and ran out the rear of the building. The officer searched Bailey’s vehicle and found a 9mm handgun inside.
On November 1, 2018, Bailey entered a Dollar Tree on High School Road. Bailey approached the check-out counter, brandished a silver revolver, and demanded money. The cashier ran from the register and Bailey left the store without any money.
Later that same day, Bailey entered a Circle K on Lafayette Road. Bailey grabbed a bag of Doritos and proceeded to the check-out counter. Bailey again brandished the silver revolver and demanded money and cigarettes from the cashier, and the cashier complied.
On November 7, 2018, Bailey entered the same Circle K on Lafayette Road, again brandishing the silver revolver. Bailey walked behind the counter and removed money from the register and several packs of cigarettes before fleeing the store.
On November 16, 2018, Bailey entered the Kentucky Fried Chicken/Taco Bell on Georgetown Road. Bailey brandished the silver revolver and demanded money from the safe. Bailey instructed an employee to open the safe. Bailey removed the money from the safe and then fled the restaurant.
On November 22, 2018, Bailey went back to the Circle K on Lafayette Road for a third time. When Bailey entered the store, none of the employees were inside. Bailey exited the store and located an employee and a customer standing together near the exit. Bailey brandished the silver revolver and demanded money from the cash register. The employee complied. Bailey took the customer’s car keys and fled the store. The customer chased Bailey as he ran from the store. Bailey dropped his backpack as he was fleeing and drove away in a vehicle, but not the customer’s vehicle. The customer tried to block Bailey from leaving and Bailey almost hit him with the vehicle as he drove away. Bailey drove the vehicle into a nearby tree. Bailey exited the vehicle and ran into a storage area. Police responded moments later, and Bailey was arrested. Officers searched the backpack that Bailey had discarded and found a silver 9mm revolver.
Bailey was transported to the police station where he was interviewed. Bailey confessed to the robberies. In a subsequent interview with a federal agent, Bailey confessed to the October 6, 2018, carjacking and admitted to brandishing a 9mm handgun.
Bailey was previously convicted in Marion County, Indiana for battery with a deadly weapon. Bailey was prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law due this felony conviction.
Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana; Herbert J. Stapleton, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Indianapolis Field Office; Daryl S. McCormick, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Columbus Field Division; and Randal Taylor, Police Chief of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department; made the announcement.
The FBI investigated the case with assistance from ATF and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Chief Judge Tanya Walton Pratt. As part of the sentence, Judge Pratt ordered that Bailey be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for three years following his release from federal prison.
U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence D. Hilton who prosecuted this case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
