Gun store burglar to serve stint in federal pen
PHILADELPHIA » A Philadelphia man who pleaded guilty in federal court last year to the May 2015 theft of 19 guns from a Collingdale firearms store was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison Thursday with three years of supervised release.
Jabaar Tindell, 41, pleaded in September to three counts of theft of firearms from a federal firearms licensee, knowing possession of stolen firearms and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon before U.S. District Judge Anita B. Brody of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Co-defendant Marc Bredell, 28, also pleaded guilty at that time to theft and possession of stolen firearms charges. He was sentenced in February to serve six months in prison with three years of supervised release. Both defendants were also ordered to pay restitution of $14,039.
Michele Mucellin, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, said Tindell had a guideline range of 63 to 78 months, but cooperated with the investigation and was given a significant reduction at the request of prosecutors.
Two other defendants, Aaron Hashimbey and Bruce Todd, have also pleaded guilty for their roles in the heist, according to online documents.
Todd has also pleaded guilty to two counts for theft of firearms, aiding and abetting and possession of stolen firearms, aiding and abetting. He is scheduled for a sentencing Sept. 5.
Hashimbey, who was charged with identical counts, pleaded under seal and is scheduled for sentencing Oct. 16.
The burglary occurred in the early morning hours of May 21, 2015, according to a plea memorandum for Bredell filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric A. Boden. Tindell met Bredell at his home at 19th Street and Girard Avenue with the two other men, according to the memorandum.
The burglars concocted a plan to rob Suburban Armory on the 1000 block of MacDade Boulevard and Bredell agreed to use his 2001 Pontiac minivan as a lookout vehicle, the memorandum says. While en route, the foursome stopped at an apartment complex in Bristol, where Tindell hotwired a 1995 Oldsmobile.
Tindell, Hashimbey and Todd drove to the gun store in the Oldsmobile with Bredell following behind in the minivan, according to the memorandum. Tindell parked the car in front of the store at about 2:30 a.m. while Bredell parked across the street.
Various members of the crew attempted to work on the windows of the store over the next hour and a half, leaving and returning to the scene several times. Tindell, Hashimbey and Todd eventually gained entry at about 4 a.m. and made their way into the gun shop, where they stole 19 handguns from two display cases, according to the memorandum.
An affidavit of probable cause filed in Delaware County indicated the burglars also attempted to steal some rifles that had been chained together, but were unsuccessful.
The men returned to Bredell’s home following the robbery, where Tindell had them give him the clothes they had been wearing and the license plate to Bredell’s minivan, according to the memorandum.
The plan was to place the items into the Oldsmobile and torch it. Tindell explained to Bredell that if video cameras had captured the license plate, he could say it had been stolen and that the minivan seen in surveillance footage was a similar looking vehicle using his stolen plate.
Bredell was later stopped in the minivan by Philadelphia police and provided the story that someone had stolen his plate, according to the memorandum.
Investigators were able to connect Tindell to the theft from blood left on a piece of glass at the scene. Pennsylvania State Police matched that sample to one already on record.
Tindell was originally charged in the Delaware County Common Pleas Court with more than 80 counts of burglary, theft, receiving stolen property and conspiracy offenses following extradition from Virginia, where he was arrested in September 2016 following a joint effort by U.S. Marshals and local law enforcement. Those charges were withdrawn in favor of the federal case.
Only two of the weapons had reportedly been recovered as of December 2016. Boden has previously indicated he cannot discuss whether additional weapons were recovered due to the ongoing investigation.
Tindell also previously pleaded guilty in Delaware County to one count of burglary for a September 2015 break-in at Royal Tobacco in Ridley. He was sentenced to one to five years in a state prison in that case, which will run concurrent to his federal sentence.
Michele Mucellin, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, said Tindell had a guideline range of 63 to 78 months, but cooperated with the investigation and was given a significant reduction at the request of prosecutors.