Conviction is fourth in Craigslist robberies
A jury convicted the last of four defendants on Thursday in Craigslist robberies that prosecutors called a “dimwitted” conspiracy.
One defendant allowed his photo to be taken by a buyer whom the gang later robbed. Another gang member’s email address was found on one of the phones used in the robberies, prosecutors said.
The jury in U.S. District Court in Columbus took about five hours to convict Raphael D. Person Jr., 31, of helping to rob
people who were selling cars on Craigslist in Columbus on Dec. 30, 2011, and Middletown in Butler County on Feb. 17, 2012.
Person, of the West Side, was found guilty of aiding and abetting, conspiracy, interstate robbery (by using the Internet), and use of a gun in a violent crime.
In each case, soon after the sales were completed, masked men in black clothing wearing bulletproof vests and carrying AR-15 semi-automatic rifles robbed the sellers. Prosecutors said that in both cases, Person was one of the gunmen who fired shots to scare the victims. No one was wounded.
The three co-defendants pleaded guilty and testified against Person.
Defense attorney James L. Ervin Jr. argued that the codefendants knew Person and lied about him being the fourth suspect to get better deals from the U.S. attorney’s office.
Mickey L. Velazquez, 30, was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He could have received 55 years, Ervin said.
Jonathan Flores Oquendo, 23, was sentenced to 28 years, and Ricardo Valazquez Flores, 24, was sentenced to 17 years.
“They all have a self-interest,” Ervin said of the three co-defendants. “They all need to testify to keep their deals.”
Ervin argued that there was no direct physical evidence linking Person to the crime.
“He is innocent,” Ervin said of Person, who did not testify during the four-day trial.
Velazquez testified that when he mentioned to Person that he wanted to buy a car, Person suggested “we not only buy the car, we steal back the money.”
All four men also were accused in Franklin County Common Pleas Court in the May 12, 2012, robbery and slaying of Brandon Leonard. ValazquezFlores and Flores-Oquendo pleaded guilty and were sentenced to prison. Velazquez pleaded guilty in the state case on Wednesday and is scheduled for sentencing on Dec. 10.
As in the Craigslist robberies, the shooters in the Leonard slaying wore masks and identified themselves as police officers.
Prosecutors called Velazquez the brains of the conspiracy. It started when he saw an ad for a 2002 Nissan Acura RSX that he wanted to buy for his wife, prosecutors said.
Flores told authorities that he bought the Acura for $5,900 in the parking lot of Columbus Gold in the Sawmill Center. The charges allege that Velazquez and Person followed the sellers back to their house, yelled that they were “DEA,” fired the rifles and robbed them of the $5,900.
A similar scenario followed in Middletown, where Velazquez paid $18,000 for a 2004 Nissan 350Z. During the purchase at a business, Velazquez allowed the seller to take his photograph. Person and an unnamed defendant said to now be in Puerto Rico later robbed the owners, again firing warning shots.
Assistant U.S. Attorney David Joseph Bosley said authorities followed the movements of the defendants on the days of the robberies by tracking their cellphones’ signals pinging off cell towers.
Velazquez owned a tattoo shop on the West Side and worked occasionally at a neighboring cellphone store where Person also worked. Person’s email address was on one of the pay-by-the-minute “burner” phones that some of the defendants used.