In November 2018, a robbery worth US$235,715 occurred in a jewelry store near the Millcreek shopping center. A sentencing hearing has ended half of the federal criminal case.

A Detroit man was sentenced to seven years in prison and ordered to pay compensation for robbery at the Jared Galleria of Jewelry store on Interchange Road in cooperation with the co-defendant. 

The sentence of the 38-year-old defendant, Devon A. Edwards, followed the recommended sentence contained in the plea agreement between the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the defense.

U.S. District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter sentenced Edwards on Thursday. According to court records, she also gave him a three-year supervised release, attributed his sentence to time after his arrest, and suggested that he serve his sentence in the closest federal prison in Piedmont, eastern Alabama.

Edwards pleaded guilty to a felony of Hobbes Act robbery or robbery affecting interstate commerce in August. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years.

His co-defendant was Roderick D. Brown, also from Detroit, who was 19 years old when the robbery occurred. Brown pleaded guilty to robbery under the Hobbes Act in August 2020. He is scheduled to be sentenced in the Erie Federal Court on January 25. According to court records, he was freed with $20,000 in unsecured bonds and lived in Detroit.

The guilty plea agreement in the Brown case does not include the proposed sentence, although the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated in the guilty plea that the office will adjust his sentence at the time of sentencing. Brown faces a maximum sentence of 20 years.

Edwards and Brown are accused of hijacking the Jared Galleria of Jewelry store at No. 2081, Junction Road, south of Millcreek Shopping Center, on November 19, 2018. They stole the jewelry at about 8:50 pm-just before closing time-at the time, according to information provided by the court in the Edwards case, the customers and employees were still in the store, which was located at the intersection of Interstate 79 To the east.

They wore masks and smashed the glass display case with a hammer. When the goods are still in the display packaging, they take the jewelry out of the store.

The two fled in a red minivan, which the police said was reportedly stolen in Detroit. Witnesses told the police that the thief had left the van and eventually headed west on I-90. Approximately 15 minutes after the robbery, Pennsylvania State Police used a nail strip to stop the van, causing it to crash at the exit of Highway 215 in the town of Springfield in western Erie County.

Edwards and Brown fled the scene. Brown was arrested immediately. After the Milk Creek police initially charged him, he was charged in Federal Court in January 2019.

Edwards provided online evidence to help the authorities catch him. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, he posted a message on Facebook stating that he robbed the store and escaped after being hunted down. He also posted a photo of himself wearing a sweatshirt with a unique American flag design, and investigators have linked him to the robbery. The robbery was captured by surveillance video.

Hearing: He stole $235,000 worth of jewelry in a robbery near the mall. His Facebook post helped the police

Investigators used Facebook posts and other evidence, including cell phone tower records and DNA, to find Edwards, who was prosecuted in April 2019 and arrested in May 2019. Plea negotiations and other issues caused delays in the resolution of the case, according to court records.

The FBI and Mill Creek police conducted the investigation together with the Pennsylvania State Police.

• Gage T. Adams, a 25-year-old West Springfield resident, was accused by the state police of taking possessions from Fairview Fire & Rescue and its members when entering the fire station without permission on November 5, exempted from illegality as a third-degree felony The crime of trespass appeared in court at the preliminary hearing on Thursday.

The first-degree felony of burglary and the misdemeanor charge of theft were dropped at the hearing on Thursday.

The state police accused Adams of entering the Fairview Fire Station at 7190 Xiling Road, when a member of the department was making a call and took away items such as flashlights and ice bags belonging to the department. A department official said that a member's earplugs were also stolen.

Fairview Robbery: State Police say Facebook posts helped arrest suspects who stole items in Fairview Fire Department

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNpalattella.

Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNhahn.