CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Virginia, Western), published as received.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - A trio of Charlottesville men, who threatened both an Albemarle County woman and a Charlottesville man at gunpoint in August 2021, were sentenced yesterday to federal prison terms.
Markel Corevis Morton, 43, Adrian Anderson, 40, and Quincy Brock, 27, all pled guilty in September 2022 to participating in a pair of armed robberies, and Morton and Brock also pled guilty to brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.
On Monday, in federal district court in Charlottesville, Morton was sentenced to over 12 years in federal prison. Brock was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison and Anderson received a sentence of 24 months.
A fourth defendant, Corey Ramont Kinney, 48, previously pleaded guilty to similar charges and will be sentenced at a later date.
In August 2021, Morton recruited Brock, Anderson, and Kinney to rob a local drug dealer with the promise of splitting $50,000 in cash he believed to be hidden in an apartment in Albemarle County. While Morton waited offsite, Brock, Anderson, and Kinney forced entry into the apartment and held a female victim at gunpoint as they searched the apartment and the female victim’s car. While not finding the $50,000 in cash, the trio of robbers nevertheless took the female victim’s phone and other personal items.
When they returned empty-handed, Morton insisted they locate the drug dealer’s cash at a second location on Prospect Avenue in the City of Charlottesville that same night. Armed with pistols, all four men drove to the second location and stole a safe containing approximately $50,000 as well as another victim’s purse. As they were leaving the apartment, Brock and Morton were intercepted by a man who was standing outside and one of them pointed their handgun at him as they fled the scene.
United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh of the Western District of Virginia, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Richmond Division Stanley M. Meador, and Col. Sean Reeves, Chief of the Albemarle County Police Department announced the sentences.
The Albemarle County Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation led the investigation of the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Heather L. Carlton and Ronald M. Huber prosecuted the case for the United States.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
