WASHINGTON – Gregory Hull, 22, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to offenses stemming from his role in a series of armed robberies that targeted commercial businesses in Washington, D.C. and Maryland during a four-week period in 2015.
The guilty plea was announced by Channing D. Phillips, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia; Andrew Vale, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Peter Newsham, Acting Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Hull pled guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to one count of conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce by robbery and two counts of interference with interstate commerce by robbery. He is to be sentenced on May 16, 2017, by the Honorable Amy Berman Jackson. He faces a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison and potential financial penalties. Under federal sentencing guidelines, he faces a likely range of 57 to 71 months in prison and a potential fine of $20,000 to $200,000. Hull remains held without bond pending sentencing.
According to the government’s evidence, Hull and his co-defendants, Anthony Burns, 23, Bradley Lee, 21, and Lee’s brother, Breyon Lee, 23, committed a series of armed robberies of commercial businesses in November and December 2015.
On Nov. 27, 2015, at approximately 2 p.m., store surveillance video captured Hull and two other men, who were armed with handguns, as they robbed the City Beats shoe store, located in the 3000 block of Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue SE. The men ordered everyone in the store to get on the floor, and forced a store employee to open the cash register. Hull and the two other men fled with approximately $1,594 in stolen cash and several pairs of stolen shoes.
On Dec. 21, 2015, at approximately 8:30 p.m., four men entered the Rite Aid pharmacy located in the 4000 block of South Capitol Street SW. Surveillance video showed that two of the men had handguns. One of the men pointed a gun at a store employee and demanded money from a cash register. The employee was unable to open the register before the men fled together from the store. One of the men jumped over a pharmacy counter and grabbed several bottles, including a bottle of promethazine with codeine. Witnesses observed the men enter a stolen white BMW and flagged down MPD officers who were driving nearby. The police officers followed the BMW until it crashed in the Barry Farm neighborhood of Southeast Washington. All of the men fled on foot and escaped, except for Hull who was caught nearby and had the key to the stolen BMW on his person.
The co-defendants, also of Washington, D.C., have pled not guilty to charges.
In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Phillips, Assistant Director in Charge Vale, and Acting Chief Newsham commended the actions of those who worked on the case from the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Metropolitan Police Department. They also expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the Prince George’s County, Md. Police Department. They acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including former Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret Barr, Paralegal Specialist Catherine O’Neal, and Legal Assistant Peter Gaboton. Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamila Hodge, who is prosecuting the case.