Three sent to prison for gunpoint holdup of Yard House restaurant at Sawgrass Mills

SUNRISE Three men who pleaded guilty to the Christmas Eve armed robbery of a restaurant at the Sawgrass Mills mall have been sentenced to federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Zyheem Ian Smith, of Orlando, was sentenced to 10 years and Gedeon Joseph, of Clermont, and Watverly Mortimer, of West Park, were each sentenced to 8-year terms on Wednesday, federal prosecutors said.

According to court records, Mortimer was an employee of the Yard House restaurant at 2610 Sawgrass Mills Circle in Sunrise at the time.

Before the restaurant opened for business, Mortimer let Joseph and Smith in through a back door about 9 a.m. shortly after the manager arrived.

Smith and Joseph put on masks, went upstairs to the office, pointed a gun at the manager, ordered him to open the safe and took his cellphone. They also took about $22,000 and drove back to Orlando in a rented Hyundai Elantra, the FBI said.

Security cameras recorded the robbery on video. The manager’s cellphone, with Smith’s fingerprints, was found in the parking lot, agents said.

Cellphone records and social media posts also implicated the three men, according to court documents. Mortimer claimed he did not know the robbers, but cellphone records showed Smith and Mortimer were texting minutes before the robbery.

Cellphone tracking data indicated Smith’s phone traveled from Orlando to Mortimer’s home in West Park, then to the restaurant, and then back to Orlando.

Toll matched road cameras the Hyundai’s locations with the cellphone’s locations between South Florida and Orlando, agents said.

Instagram and Facebook accounts proved Mortimer, Smith and Joseph were friends whose pictures appeared on Smith’s site. A few online images also showed Joseph wearing some of the same clothing and shoes worn during the robbery.

The men also chatted and planned the robbery online, Facebook Messenger records showed.