2 men get prison time for armed robberies

Cellphone stores in Brookhaven and Lithonia were held up.

Two Decatur men received lengthy prison sentences for robbing cellphone stores at gunpoint.

Dontavious Matthews, 31, and Quentin Truley, 27, were convicted of an armed robbery in Brookhaven that took place in 2017, according to a news release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia. Less than two weeks after that robbery, Truley was caught robbing another cellphone store near Lithonia.

On Dec. 17, 2017, both men entered the Brookhaven store, the release said. Truley pointed a gun at everyone inside, while Matthews ordered them to the ground. The store manager was forced to open a safe, and the two fled the scene with stolen cellphones. Authorities said the two men were seen on surveillance cameras and left fingerprints at the store.

Eleven days later, Truley and an unknown accomplice committed a similar armed robbery at a cellphone store in Lithonia. They held everyone at gunpoint, forced store employees to open a safe and ran away with stolen cellphones. However, the store manager slipped a tracker phone into the suspects’ loot, which led police to Truley. He was arrested after hiding in some bushes at a nearby apartment complex.

“Violent conduct like the armed robberies in this case will not be tolerated in our community,” Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta, said in the release. “The FBI is proud to work with our local law enforcement partners in helping to convict these offenders at the federal level, where they face stiffer penalties and no opportunity for parole.”

Matthews was convicted of one count of armed robbery and sentenced to nine years and four months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay more than $19,000 in restitution.

Truley pleaded guilty to two counts of armed robbery and two firearm charges He received a prison sentence of 19 years and three months followed by five years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay more than $40,000 in restitution.

Their cases were investigated by the FBI with assistance from police officers in Brookhaven and Dekalb.