HOUSTON — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Texas, Southern), published as received.
HOUSTON – The last of three convicted for their roles in a series of home invasions which resulted in federal kidnapping charges over the course of several months has been ordered to prison, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.
Chakevia Roberts, 31, Houston, pleaded guilty Aug. 12, 2022, admitting she was the look-out and getaway driver during the crimes which occurred in the Houston area.
Today, U.S. District Judge Sim Lake ordered her to serve a total of 96 months in prison to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release. In imposing the sentence, the court noted the dangerousness of the offenses and the terror of the victims while in their own homes.
Two others - Timothy Morant, 55, and Alvin Woods, 45, both also of Houston, were sentenced previously to 327 and 240 months in federal prison, respectively. At Morant’s hearing, the court called him one of the most dangerous people he had seen before him in all of his years as a judge and noted he had been convicted of the same crime twice before this one. He had been convicted in 1989 and served only 13 years of 42-year sentence in state prison. In 2003, he was again convicted of the same crimes and sentenced to 25 years but released in 2018.
There is no parole in the federal system.
During the course of the sentencing hearings, Judge Lake also reviewed powerful and moving victim impact statements. They described the fear and panic they felt during the kidnappings and how they believed they would be killed.
“One of the defendants pepper sprayed a child, in front of the child’s mother, in the mother and child’s own home. The victims are still traumatized, years later,” said Hamdani. “My office will not tolerate this vile conduct, and so the two men who decided to violate the sanctity of a home will now face justice’s long arm and spend decades in prison. The hope is that this might allow the victims to finally sleep a little easier knowing their perpetrators are off the streets.”
On Oct. 22, 2019, Morant and Woods entered a multi-million dollar home in Sugar Land while the homeowners were present. Morant and Woods tied up several family members with zip ties, held them at gunpoint and demanded they open safes. Morant and Woods demanded jewelry and other high end property. When the homeowners did not act quickly enough, Morant pepper sprayed them. During the kidnapping, Morant was on an open cell phone line with Roberts who was waiting outside as the look-out and get-away driver. Once Morant and Roberts received the items they wanted, they stole the homeowners vehicle and used it to meet Roberts at a pre-determined location. Morant, Woods and Roberts then split the money and property amongst themselves.
Morant and Woods entered another multi-million dollar home in Houston on Dec. 13, 2019. There, they encountered the home owner and her child. Roberts remained outside as the look-out/get-away driver again and kept an open cell phone call with Morant. Morant and Woods pushed their way into the home while pointing guns at the victims. The two then zip-tied both the home owner and her child while demanding money, jewelry and other high end property. When the mother could not open a second safe to give Morant more of what he wanted, he pepper sprayed the child.
Authorities apprehended all three after they had attacked another family in Houston June 19, 2020. They again pointed guns at the home owners and demanded money, jewelry and property. During the invasion, Morant and Woods drug the victims, zip-tied again, to areas within the home in search for cash and high-end items.
Upon their arrests, law enforcement found stolen property, gloves, masks and firearms.
All have been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The FBI and police departments in Houston and Sugar Land conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Stotts prosecuted the case.
